Gakuen Alice: a Retelling
by elysianphantasy
Summary: Gakuen Alice a Retelling
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.**

_**Gakuen Alice: a Retelling**_

**Prologue**

I was not forced to attend Gakuen Alice, unlike the others. I sought it out. Initially when I told my fellow classmates that, they all thought I was insane to say the least. Even now, to them, I'm still the weird nerdy, shy girl who had nowhere else to turn to so decided to enroll in Gakuen Alice, desperately hoping she would fit in. No matter how correct they may be (believe me they were correct), there's one thing I learned from my high school years at the Academy…hmm. You know, normally I would like to think of myself as a kind person but not anymore. The Academy changed me. So, instead of just simply telling you what I learned, I'll show you instead.

First off let me described the Academy for you. To everyone on the "outside" Gakuen Alice was known as the genius academy, the academy that all the future political leaders and business men of the world graduate from and when I first got there, my first impression was the same. The Academy is kind of like a boarding school for everyone from elementary to high school and from high school, students were expected to leave the facilities and go on to college, then become major players in different areas then take over the family business and the rich get richer, blah, blah, blah. You get the drift. The only difference from regular boarding schools is that everyone there has an Alice.

I know you're wondering, what is an Alice? Basically it's like a special ability or power that you have, kind of like a super power but not really. Sometimes it can be something really cool like controlling plants or something really stupid like fart bombs. My first reaction to the person with that Alice was literally (O.O). So people with Alices from around the world are gathered by the government and (again) forced to study in Gakuen Alice where the government can keep an eye on them or in some cases do experiments. Yes, I did say people do experiments on Alice wielders. One thing that you shouldn't forget is that perhaps everyone calls this the genius academy where all the rich snobs go but no matter how you look at it Gakuen Alice is still a _research_ facility controlled by the government.

Now let's start before I start ranting or giving away the story. It all began when I entered into Gakuen Alice's high school division as a sophomore…


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice**

Chapter 1

Adina Stark looked up at the large building before her before entering and walking towards the High School Principal's office. The HSP looked up as she entered and gestured for her to sit in the chair in front of his desk. "Welcome to Gakuen Alice Ms. Stark. We rarely get students this late in the year." He whipped out a sheet of paper which was a map of the high school building and dorms. "Here's your classroom, 2B. You will be studying with the other sophomores and your dorm room is here." He handed her a key as well as another package. "That contains your uniform as well as school books. Your homeroom teacher will explain everything that you need to know." Adina shyly nodded her head, looking at her shoes as if they were the most interesting thing in the room.

"T…tha…tha…thank…you…" she answered meekly. The HSP smiled at her. Someone knocked on the door then a short black haired girl with violet eyes entered.

"You called for me," she said emotionlessly.

"Imai-san, this is Adina Stark. Please show her to her classroom. Ms. Stark, this is Hotaru Imai, she is class 2B's representative. Thank you Imai-san and good luck, Ms. Stark." She quickly stood up and bowed herself out of the room, following Hotaru who had already walked out without a backward glance.

Outside, Hotaru looked at Adina who tripped over her own feet. "This way." They stopped in front of a double door with the sign 2B on top of it. "Come in when Narumi calls your name," Hotaru said, slamming the door behind her. Adina was pacing around for a couple minutes until she heard… "Please welcome out newest student, Adina Stark." She gulped and walked into the classroom.

Surprisingly the classroom was pretty normal. There were tables in rows in the room with two straight backed chairs behind them. The drapes were flung back from the floor to ceiling windows on one side of the room while a small part of the ground was raised in front of the chalkboard at the front of the room with a blonde man standing on it. His purple eyes twinkled as he waved at Adina. She shyly turned towards the class as they stared. The blonde man held his hand out. "Hi, I'm Narumi sensei, your homeroom teacher. My Alice is human pheromone so behave." Turning towards the class he announced, "I hope everyone tries their best to get along with Adina. Are there any questions for her?"

Hands shot up. "What's her Alice?" "What's her star ranking?" "What type class is she?" "Why is she here so late in the year?" Narumi sighed and said, "I'll leave Adina to answer your questions since I have a meeting." Looking down at her he continued, "Your seat is at the second row. Please ask Imai-san if you have any questions. Be nice class." As soon as Narumi left, the class was in chaos; everyone started talking and using their Alices. Adina quietly walked to her seat and sat down.

**Adina's POV**

Don't notice me. Don't notice me. I just want to fade in with everyone else. This is why I don't like being the new kid. Everyone tries to ask you questions. Narumi sensei said that Hotaru was supposed to be my guide around school but she was sitting in her seat reading a book, ignoring everyone near her. Looks like I'm not getting a tour. My seatmate looked at me and said, "Hi my name is Anna. I have the cooking Alice. What about you?" I stared at her pink hair, wonder if it's natural.

"A…am…amplification," I stuttered. Great, now she thinks I'm a total loser, which I probably am.

"That's cool," she smiled, "there was a guy with an amplification Alice but he graduated a couple years ago." I lightly smiled back at her. "Everyone called him Tono. He was…"

"Anna! I finished my love potion!" A blue haired girl ran up to Anna and shoved a bottle in her face.

"That's great. Who are you gonna use it on?"

"I don't know…no one now."

"Nonoko, this is Adina. Adina this is Nonoko, my best friend." Nonoko turned to me.

"Nice to meet you Adina. You know, you're the first to enter in high school. Most people start in elementary. We rarely even get any new students in middle school. So, how did you get found out?"

The moment of truth, "Actually I wasn't forced here or anything," I said, "I took a test to get in here and apparently I passed because they found out I had the Amplification Alice. So, yea…" Anna and Nonoko were staring at me as if I'd committed a crime.

Laughingly, Anna turned to Nonoko, "It's alright I'm sure everyone has a reason." Nonoko nodded slowly but didn't say anything. Looks like I'm categorized as a freak the first day. "Anyway, we'll show you around school. Imai-san!"

"What?" an annoyed voice answered.

"We were wondering if you would…" A weird gun looking thing was pointed at Anna.

"Go bore someone else with your questions." Hotaru seems like a lovely person. Great personality. Looks like the next Ms. Universe is decided.

Anna and Nonoko dragged me out of the classroom. They toured me around campus and showed me where the library, dining hall, etc. I also met another one of their friends, Yuu Tobita but everyone calls him Inchou because he's the sophomore class representative. He's kind of like me, shy but he's not scared to state his opinion when he really cares about something. He's ranked fourth in exams. Apparently, I'm a three star, whatever that means and in the special abilities class. The four of us were walking to the dorms. Anna and Nonoko were talking about something called Central Town and me and Inchou were content with silence, though.

"I wonder when Mikan and Natsume will be back. I hope nothing's wrong with them," he murmured.

Curious, I asked, "Who's that?"

"Oh, did you notice there was an empty table at the back of the room? Near the window?" No I did not know; too busy trying to avoid everyone. I shook my head. "Well, those were their seats. They're absent today, probably doing some…uh…work for the academy."

"What kind of work?"

"Uhm…actually, I'm not sure. You should ask Imai-san, she's Mikan-chan's best friend."

"You sure you don't know anything?"

"Uh huh," Inchou sweated, scratching his head. I probably didn't look convinced. "Anyway let's go eat dinner. I'm sure you're starving after all that walking."

Outside the dining hall, we saw Hotaru talking to a blond boy. Normally, I'd try to avoid looking at people as much as possible but I couldn't help but notice a worried expression on her face. From what I've seen of her, Hotaru seemed like the residential ice queen. There's one in every school. I wonder what cracked her façade.

"Hey, Hotaru looks really worried," Anna whispered to Nonoko.

"Yeah, there's only one thing that makes her like that."

"Something's probably happened to Mikan."

"You don't think…?"

"NO! She can't!"

"But Hotaru's…" They saw me looking at them and immediately stopped talking, pulling me into the dining hall. That Mikan girl again. I wonder what type of person she is to make the ice queen crack.

* * *

><p><em>In the dorms<em>

I was lying on my bed thinking about today. My room was pretty spacious like the bedroom of a hotel suite, with an adjoining bathroom. The high school dorms were separated by grade level. I was a sophomore, so my room was on the second floor. Freshmen were on the first, juniors on third, and seniors on fourth. You get to your floor using one of four elevators located around the dorms. There was also a fifth floor (you can only access this floor by inserting a special room key into a slot in the elevator) that was reserved for special stars only. I heard their rooms were like hotel suites with maid service and everything. Being a special star must really mean something.

Tired, my mind started wandering, then started thinking about _that night_. I remember the screams…then that haunting voice…calling…_I will find you…You can't hide from me…I know where you are…You can't escape me_…I closed my eyes.

_ "ADINA! ADINA! GET BACK HERE…!" A door slammed…car wheels screeching._

_ "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING OUT THERE?" There was a voice yelling but I tuned it out. It wasn't my fault…a…cat? Something small…_

_ "DAD!" Blacked out…white room, with bandages everywhere…I saw blood…fainted…_

_ "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOU YOUR DAD WOULD HAVE…WHY?...WHY DID YOU DO IT?"_

_ Rain…it won't stop…cold, wet…where do I go…?_

_ That voice starts talking again… You can't hide from me…I know where you are…You can't escape me…I will find you…I will find you…I will find you…I…will…find…you…_

"NOOOOOO!" I jumped up, bathed in cold sweat. It was that voice again. Hugging myself, I walked to the window and looked out, probably around 3 in the morning. Maybe a walk will calm me down. I pulled on a robe and walked outside. Unsure where I was going, I just headed towards the classrooms. No one should be there at this hour. By the time I got to the classrooms, my feet were freezing since I forgot to wear socks. I was determined to now sprint back to the dorms as I turned around to the way I came and that's when I saw _her_.

She looked ethereal, sitting on the edge of my classroom window, looking out at the moon, like a gust of wind could knock her over. The moonlight shining over her made me wonder later, whether what I saw was real or a dream, then I remembered how cold my feet were. This wasn't a dream. Soft, brown hair cascaded past her shoulders in ringlets, framing her angelic face which had a content expression. Her body was lithe like a sleek cat but she had curves in all the right places. She wore only black shorts and what looked like a mans shirt, with the two top buttons unbuttoned.

I don't know how long I stood there staring but she probably sensed my presence because she suddenly turned in my direction. That's when I realized she was staring straight at me, her expression sharp but then turned to surprise. I ran.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice**

Chapter 2

**Normal POV**

Adina woke up on her bed, surprised she actually made it back. As she went through her morning routines, all she could think about was that girl she saw last night. She walked down for breakfast, meeting up with Anna and Nonoko along the way. They sat at their table along with Inchou who was staring at a textbook, preparing for their first day of classes. Apparently Gakuen Alice didn't have summer or winter breaks so students study all year round but students do get two weeks off as they enter their next year, a week off after first semester finals, and a week off to prepare for the Alice Festival. The only other times students get days off are during Christmas and New Years but students were given one day off on the day of any other major holiday. Adina didn't have much of an appetite this morning, her mind was occupied with thoughts of whether last night was a dream or not.

The dining hall doors slammed open and in walked four students, two by two. The girl in question danced into the room and Adina couldn't tear her eyes off of the brunette. She was _real_. Next to the brunette who was elegantly smiling and touching hands with those who came up to her was Hotaru fiddling with a weird looking object and completely ignoring the stares she was given. Behind them was a girl with a dark green perm and matching green eyes. She led with her hips in a walk that belonged on the runway. Next to her was the blonde boy Hotaru was talking to yesterday holding a rabbit. His eyes seemed glued to Hotaru's backside. Hotaru on the other hand was either not noticing the stare or deciding to ignore it. It was probably the latter.

Anna and Nonoko jumped up, "Mikan-chan! Mikan-chan! Welcome back!" The brunette stopped and started walking up to them but Hotaru held her back.

"Baka, we have to be in class in ten minutes. Do you want breakfast or not?" Pouting, the brunette walked past them, motioning that she'll talk to them later. The blonde and girl with a perm followed them as they entered the balcony where only special stars and whoever they invited were allowed to eat. Adina watched as a maid checked the brunette's ID and let them pass. She turned back to the table.

"So the brunette is Mikan? Is she the one who was absent yesterday?"

"Yup," Nonoko answered, "That's Mikan Sakura; you can't miss her cuz she stands out _everywhere_ probably because she's student council vice president. Her Alice is Nullification and Stealing which are really rare."

"And she's a special star," Anna added, "She always scores either second or third on exams but she's not snobby about it. She's really nice."

"Who's first?" Adina asked, watching Mikan lean back in her chair laughing her head off at something.

"Hotaru Imai, triple star, and the smartest girl to ever step foot on Gakuen Alice. She's the one who rakes in the most profit for our school because of her invention Alice," Nonoko replied as she pointed at the violet eyed genius.

"Her love for money's probably the reason too," Anna said, taking a bite out of her omelet.

"Well money _does_ make the world go round."

"True. Oh and Adina I suggest you don't get on Imai-san's bad side. She loves blackmailing people." Right after Anna said that a few clicks were heard. Turning their heads, they saw Hotaru snapping pictures of the perm haired girl who was shrieking her head off while the blonde boy was attempting to stop Hotaru.

"Uhm…okay…" Adina said meekly, "What about the perm haired girl?"

"That's Sumire Shouda who has the cat-dog Alice, two star. She's the student council's first assistant and our resident gossipmonger. She used to be the president of the Natsume and Ruka fan club but she resigned last year." Anna glanced at Sumire, "She used to hate Mikan too but for some reason they became best friends last year." We heard screaming and turned to see that Sumire managed to get her hands on Hotaru's camera but was shot by Hotaru who was wielding a weird gun. Hotaru then turned and shot the blonde guy three times. BAKA BAKA BAKA.

Anna sighed, "Hotaru and her infamous baka gun. And the blonde guy she just shot was Ruka Nogi. He has the animal pheromone Alice and is a triple star. Everyone knows he has a major crush on Imai-san but for some reason they're not together yet. Anyways we're going on ahead. See you later Adina." Anna and Nonoko walked off, leaving Adina with Inchou who muttered an apology about going to the library and left as well.

* * *

><p>A couple minutes after they left a couple girls approached Adina and sat down at her table. "Hey," a redhead with cat like eyes greeted, "I'm Melanie Williams, X-ray Alice and two star. This is Alicia Percy, speed Alice, two star." She pointed to a blonde haired girl. She pointed to another blonde. "And that's Delia Hale, teleportation Alice, two star but we call her Dee." Adina couldn't help but notice that all the nearby guys were staring at the three girls in front of her or more specifically their revealing uniforms. All three of them were wearing the skirt like mini skirts and the top two buttons of their shirts were unbuttoned, revealing a lot of cleavage. True, they weren't ugly but you wouldn't describe them as beautiful either. They just seemed above average compared to the four people sitting on the balcony.<p>

Melanie leaned towards Adina, "So, how do you like the school?"

"Uhm…it's my second day here?"

"Pshaw, _details_. I meant anyone interest you?"

"Uh…no?"

"Really? What about Ruka-sama. He's _really_ hot." Adina looked at Ruka again as he ruffled his hair.

"Uhm he's not really my type. Doesn't he like Imai?"

"_Whatever_ it's not like they're dating or married. Besides even if they were dating you could break them up and if they _were_ married, there's always divorce," Melanie laughed. Adina was beginning to feel really uncomfortable around her loose attitude. "So, I was just wondering what a pretty bird like yourself was hanging around with a bunch of _nerds_," Melanie wrinkled her nose, "You deserve _much_ better, like me."

"You shouldn't talk about other people like that."

"Why not? It's true. Besides I know we'll get along much better than with those guys. So what do you say I show you the ropes around here?"

"Uhm…that's really nice but you see…" Adina stuttered.

"ARE YOU SAYING NO TO ME?" Melanie closed her compact that she was smiling at.

"No, no…of course not."

"Good, then I'll show you around after class," she returned to her compact, "Hello gorgeous." Adina stared at her. Looks like she started out on the right foot, wonder what her friends would say.

While staring at her compact, Melanie started gushing about how _amazing_ the school is _because of her._ Umimpressed, Adina tuned her out while Melanie's friends, the two airheads, started bickering about what color nail polish was "in."

Adina watched as Mikan finished her breakfast, ignoring her fighting friends and walked down the stairs. Adina lowered her head as Mikan danced past, followed by Ruka who stared blankly in front of him with Sumire next to him, wearing a smirk. Hotaru picked up her camera, reloaded her baka gun, and started fiddling with a weird invention again. She walked down the balcony before pausing at Adina's table, slowly turning until she faced Adina.

"Oh, hello again." She stared at Adina. Mikan halted, which had the whole room staring at Adina's table, even Melanie stopped gesturing. "Hey Mikan, _this_ is the girl I was talking to you about. Adina Stark."

Mikan waltzed over and stood in front of Adina. Before she said anything Sumire was next to her leaning her arm on Mikan's shoulder. "What's your name again?"

Mikan sighed, "Her name is Adina Stark, _Permy_."

"Shut up, I told you to stop calling me that."

Mikan turned back to Adina, "Hi Adina. I'm Mikan, and this is Hotaru, Sumire or Permy, and Ruka." She nodded towards each person as she introduced them. "It's nice meeting you and welcome to Gakuen Alice. We rarely get new students this late in the year. Well, see you around." She nodded to Melanie and her friends, gracefully turned, as if walking down a runway, and walked away, with Sumire and Ruka following her. Hotaru scrutinized Adina then Melanie for a few minutes before smirking and walking away.

"OH. MY. GOD." Melanie squealed, "I can't believe Mikan _talked _to_ me_." Adina was getting a bit annoyed at Melanie but decided to ignore her as the bell rang. She rushed off to her class with Melanie still gushing to her friends.

* * *

><p><em>In the classroom<em>

Once again Narumi sensei left the class to its own devices and things immediately turned chaotic. Mikan, Hotaru, Sumire, and Ruka were in the back corner of the room talking. Anna, Nonoko, and Inchou had to help out the teachers at the meeting so they left with Narumi which left Adina at the clutches of Melanie and her groupies. Melanie was once again ranting but this time about how average humans weren't as great as Alice wielders.

"I mean, why do we even need them. They're so useless compared to us. Even if they tried their hardest they can never reach our level…"

Fed up with the way Melanie was talking, Adina screamed, "What is with you going on and on about Alices? Are people with Alices really all that -!"

"We _are_ that great!" a voice interjected. Adina turned and found herself facing Sumire who had walked over when she heard Adina's protest.

"Sumire-san! I knew we thought alike!" Melanie clasped her hands together.

Sumire ignored her and continued, "We students with Alices have been recognized by the government and are the special elite that have been put under their care and protection." Adina gaped at her. "But since you obviously know nothing, I'll explain it to you. People with Alices have made quite a few achievements in many fields, including politics, the arts, and academics. It's not an exaggeration to say that the specialists of this country have made it what it is today by using Alices. However, even in today's society the country still continues to keep the existence of people with Alices top secret. That's why the students in this school are forbidden from taking part in affairs outside of it. Why do you think all this is done? If people found out that the geniuses and prodigies and all those people at the top of their fields were people with Alices, then ordinary people would have nothing to do." Adina was staring, shocked, at Sumire. The rest of the class turned towards the two girls, thinking they were in for an interesting show. Hotaru was filming Sumire's speech and Ruka was looking down blankly at the scene, while Mikan was looking at Adina as if pitying her. "That's why in normal schools, they're able to spew out things like, "You can do it!" or "If you work hard, you will surely get results!" Just like that, they have you work your hardest and raise you to be a superior human cogwheel for us to use. Those humans who don't have Alices swarm around people with Alices like parasites and gain their benefits of such or, they become the Alice's arms and legs and function like worker ants. _We_ are the chosen humans. Our existence is different from normal people who are expendable and can be replaced at any time."

"What the hell are you saying? You've got to be kidding me!"

"The one who's kidding here is you!" Adina was about to yell back but Melanie pulled her back and started berating her about talking back to Sumire as Sumire smirked and walked back to her group. The history teacher walked in as Melanie and Adina were yelling at each other.

"BREAK ITUP AND DETENTION FOR BOTH OF YOU!" Adina reluctantly flopped onto her seat. "All right, I will be your European history teacher this year. Some of you, excuse me, most of you will come to hate me by the end of the year but those same people will be praying at my alter once you enter college. First of all this year I will be teaching you _facts_. I don't care about your opinions or analyzing abilities, all you will be learning are _facts_. You college professors will teach you the rest later but what I am teaching you are _facts, facts, facts_. Now hopefully your brains still retain some memory of what my predecessor taught you so we shall begin with a test to see how much you know." Their history teacher divided the room into right and left. "If you get a question right, your team gets a point. If you get it wrong, you lose one. Clear?" Everyone nodded.

"Now let's begin…Ms…Shouda." Sumire stood up looking arrogant. "During the English Revolution, the Levellers advocated what idea?" WHAT? O.O

"Uhm…uh…oh…I know this…uh…" You do?

"Five seconds."

"Uh…Oh, that all men should have the vote regardless of whether they own property."

"Correct. Next…Mr…Nogi." Ruka stood up. "What is the name of the Siberian mystic that heavily influenced the Czarina as adviser since she believed he could control the bleeding of her hemophilic son Alexis?"

"Gregory Rasputin," replied Ruka without a pause. Adina was speechless. How smart were these kids?

* * *

><p><em>10 minutes later<em>

"Ms. Stark." Adina jumped up. "Ah…I see you're new. I'll give you an easy one then." Adina frowned. "In the 18th century, what was Europe's largest city?" Adina had absolutely no clue so she just guessed.

"Uhm…Paris?"

"No, the answer is London…Hm I guess I should have expected you not to know anything considering you transferred from a _normal_ school."

"I'm sorry sir but that was uncalled for. Just because I didn't answer the question right doesn't give you any right to mock my old school." The teacher looked at her, then erased all the points her team had gathered.

"See me after class." Adina sat down, trying to ignore the glares of her teammates. After class, she went up to her teacher's desk.

"Uhm…excuse me…?" Her teacher finished scribbling something on a notepad then wripped it out and handed it to her.

"Here, a reading list for you to catch up. I expect you to be able to fully answer all the questions I asked today by our next class and I hope there won't be a repeat performance of today."

"Yes sir." Adina took the list and walked back to her seat with her classmates drilling holes into her back. Her next class, chemistry wasn't any better because she couldn't understand a thing the teacher was talking about, then her English and Spanish classes were conducted entirely in that language (apparently everyone was expected to be fluent in at least three languages by the end of school). By the time lunch started, Adina was swamped with homework and extra reading from her teachers to catch up.

* * *

><p><em>Dining Hall (Special Star Balcony)<em>

The special star balcony could be accessed through two sets of stairs that swept up to the balcony on the left and right side. It was surrounded by a glass railing that let everyone on the balcony see the entire hall and likewise. Instead of long rectangular wood tables in rows with straight back wood chairs like the dining hall, the balcony had three circular tables with large comfy chairs. Behind the three tables was a smaller rectangular shaped table that seated two with a recliner instead of chairs. The four teenagers were currently occupying two of the round tables.

"What do you think of the new kid and Sumire's speech? Remind you of anyone Mikan?" Ruka smiled at Mikan who was stirring her salad with her right hand and leaning her cheek on her left. Mikan looked across the table at Ruka who was seated next to Hotaru as close as he could without being shot with the baka gun. She then turned towards the other table, occupied solely by Sumire who was yelling at a butler for bringing the wrong dish. Mikan smiled.

"Yea but that was a long time ago. I've changed and so has Sumire."

"I admit Mikan changed," Hotaru looked up from her invention, "But I highly doubt Sumire has," she smirked taking out two video tapes. "Want to check? I'm pretty sure her speech for Adina was the same as yours." Mikan pouted as Ruka laughed.

"Wow Hotaru, you taped that?" Ruka smiled at Hotaru but she glared at him.

"And when were you able to call me by my first name?"

"Uh…I…I'm really sorry!" BAKA BAKA BAKA BAKA BAKA. Mikan sighed at their antics. When were those two going to get together? She started thinking about the new girl. Adina. She seems like a nice girl but a bit shy, completely unlike her when she first came to Gakuen Alice, Mikan smiled. She walked over to the glass railing and surveyed the students below. Anna, Nonoko, and Inchou were absent but this was to be expected since they were all busy at the teacher's meeting. Adina was sitting with Melanie and her friends. At this Mikan frowned; looks like Melanie got her hands on her. She walked back to Hotaru and Ruka who was unconscious on the floor due to the baka gun.

"Melanie's got her claws on new girl." Mikan announced.

"So?" Hotaru didn't even look up.

Sigh. "Adina's in for a ride now that she got mixed with _her_."

Silence.

"Mou…Hotaru."

Silence.

"She could be extremely useful with her Amplification Alice."

Silence.

"It's for everyone in the school."

Silence.

"Don't you want to help the students?"

Silence.

"Arrgh…What if I pay you?"

"300 rabbits."

"…you haven't changed a bit have you Hotaru. Anyways how do we get her away from Melanie?"

"Got it covered," Hotaru said as she walked over to Ruka and started whispering in his ear. He started to protest but Hotaru silenced him with a glare. Ruka whimpered and nodded.

* * *

><p><em>In the classroom<em>

By her last class, calculus, Adina was dead tired and ready to drop any minute. Her calc teacher, Jinno-sensei entered the room with a rod.

Everyone was sitting quietly but Adina had her head on her desk just praying for her day to end. "First thing I would like to say is that calculus is an extremely hard course and anyone not putting in 120% of their efforts will fail my class. I expect all of you to be fully prepped to test everyday. So, to start things off let's see how much you know with a pop quiz." Everyone groaned as Jinno passed out the papers. Unsure what the letters and numbers in front of her meant, Adina just scribbled whatever came first and turned her paper in, collapsing in her chair. Classes ended at three.

She was preparing herself to take a nap before moving when someone shook her arm. It was her seatmate, Anna. "Hurry up or you'll be late for our next activity."

"THERE'S MORE? WHAT THE HELL?"

"Yes, don't worry this is the last one since you don't have any club or student council activities. All students are expected to join a sport since our school doesn't have physical education. I'm in swimming." Adina groaned, banging her head on her desk.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You need those extra brain cells," Sumire smirked as she walked by.

"Permy be nice," Mikan chided her.

Adina managed to drag herself outside but Melanie spotted her and dragged her away from Anna and Nonoko who looked shocked. "Join football with me."

"Why?" Melanie didn't look like the type of girl to play football. Curious, Adina let herself be dragged to the football field.

* * *

><p><em>Football Field<em>

Adina was sitting on the bleachers next to Melanie adjusting her cleats as the coach walked in with a football. "All right girls, get on the field. Practice game." Excited, Adina sprinted to the field. She was assigned midfielder. Melanie was defense for the other team. Just then Sumire strutted onto the field at which Melanie started screaming her name. Ignoring her, Sumire planted herself in the middle of the field, obviously playing forward. The coach blew her whistle.

Sumire got hold of the ball and quickly passed it onto her teammate before sprinting forwards which surprised Adina. She expected Sumire to be a ball hog, all glory, and no teamwork. Sumire's teammate managed to dribble the ball halfway to the goal and passed to Sumire. Sumire caught the ball and was about to kick it but then Adina slid across the ground and kicked the ball away from Sumire. She then stood up and kicked it to her teammates in the opposite direction before turning around and giving a hand to Sumire.

Sumire spat out a mouthful of dirt, glaring furiously at Adina, then stood up. Scared, Adina took a step back. Sumire held her glare for a moment then smirked maliciously. "Keep doing that and we might win a few this year," she said, "But do that to _me_ again and we'll have a problem." Smirking again at Adina's face, Sumire walked past her back to her side of the field.


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice**

Chapter 3

_Adina's Room_

Adina was staring, eyes barely open (if she could prop them up with toothpicks at this point she would have), at the book for English she had to finish by tomorrow, _Heart of Darkness_ by Joseph Conrad. Her study desk was littered with scraps of paper, a stack of books on one side and a box of cookies lay half eaten on another. So far she'd already gone through one of the books her European History teacher assigned for her to "catch up" (in her opinion it was complete bullshit), most of her chemistry problems, and a report on conjugations for Spanish. Even then, she still had to finish _Heart of Darkness,_ read two short stories for Japanese, and finish calculus homework, none which she understood.

"A hard workload I can handle, but this is pulverizing," she muttered. She was halfway through the book as she glanced at her clock. 1:28 A.M. At this point in time, she _really_ did not care about finding a guy called Kurtz or what the narrator described as the "horror" of mankind. Adina closed the book and leaned her head on her desk for a five minute break, going over her day.

Right after football practice, she had detention with her Euro teacher along with Melanie. There was absolutely nothing enjoyable of being stuck for the next two hours within close proximity of the teacher from hell and Ms. I'm a slut. Luckily or unluckily for Adina her Euro teacher immediately set the two to work cleaning the clock tower, leaving them with, "If I come back to see this clock with a speck of dirt on it, you'll be studying with the freshmen." Not wanting to be stuck with freshmen, Adina immediately set out to the task but dangling 150 feet above the ground, attempting to clean a huge clock was not her idea of educational discipline and just to put icing on the cake, Melanie spent the entire time filing her nails on stable ground. Life was just not fair.

Adina lifted her head up from her desk and looked at her clock. 2:04 A.M. Shit! She was asleep for half an hour. Slapping herself awake, she once again attacked her book but found herself unable to concentrate. "Damn it, if I don't keep up with coursework I'll be dropped to two star," she muttered, remembering what Inchou said the other day about the star system.

_Flashback_

_ "The star ranking system is an assessment system here that takes into account the students' Alice levels, lifestyles, and attitudes. There are four ranks: no star, single, double, and triple. There is a rank higher than triple – special. Only the best students have that," Inchou explained pointing at a diagram in their classroom. Currently everyone was having break. Only Adina, Inchou, and Mikan were in the classroom but Mikan was walking towards the door. Inchou stayed behind to explain some things to Adina as an apology for rushing off that morning. "The star ranking can be lowered or raised based on your attitude and lifestyle which includes your grades here, so be careful. Also, a single star is needed to graduate from elementary, a double from middle school, and a triple from high school. Most people are only at triple level when they graduate from high school. There are only a handful of students that actually obtain special stars. Currently there are only ten to twenty students in the high school who have triple stars one of which is Imai-san."_

_ Adina gazed at the diagram, "That special star rank must be really special considering even Hotaru doesn't have it."_

_ "Currently two people in high school have it."_

_ "I know Mikan Sakura is one." Adina said as Mikan was walking up to them. "Who's the other?"_

_ "Natsume Hyuuga,"Inchou replied._

_ "Who's Nats - ?"_

_ "My boyfriend." Adina turned to see Mikan smile at her and walk out the door._

_End Flashback_

Adina was still currently having a staring contest with her book, determined not to be demoted to a two star, but she could not keep her eyes open and ended falling asleep on her homework.

* * *

><p>Throughout the week, Melanie kept on popping up whenever Adina tried to talk to Anna and Nonoko and dragged her away from them. The two would look at her with sad faces but there was nothing they could do or else they would be hurt by Melanie and her goons. Adina on the other hand, although hated Melanie's presence, had to stand her because she was too weak to protest since she only had on average two to three hours of sleep each night. As a result, Adina has been sitting at Melanie's table along with her cronies who were always gossiping about the next "big thing" or eyeing boys. Melanie herself was a diehard fan of Ruka Nogi and would always give Adina extremely…er…<em>elicit<em> descriptions of what their future wedding or honeymoon would be. Because of this, Adina had recently perfected the art of pretending to listen and adding a murmur or small comment after every other line. Her social life was obviously not in tip top shape.

To make matters worse, her academic life was equally if not more horrifying. After speaking up to her Euro teacher the first day, he specifically made it his life goal to embarrass Adina everyday in front of her classmates by constantly picking on her when she obviously did not know the answer or mocking her old schools. Not wanting to be punished by him again, Adina just kept silent and endured his attempts to embarrass her. Her chemistry teacher was a recent graduate who understood Adina's plight much better than the other teachers. Whenever Adina did not understand something, she would just smile and explain it again instead of ripping Adina's self esteem to pieces like the teachers. Because of this Adina enjoyed chemistry the most out of all her classes.

Her other classes…not so joyful, one of which was Spanish because she had absolutely no idea how to speak the language and from day 1, her teacher conducted the entire class in Spanish, leaving Adina stupefied. Whenever called upon, she would respond with a "no se," which she learned on the first day means "I don't know." No matter how bad her Euro teacher was and no matter that Adina didn't understand any Spanish, her worst class by far had to be calculus.

Her problem was no that she didn't understand every friggin formula Jinno-sensei threw at her…okay that was part of the problem, but the major problem was the teacher himself. Jinno-sensei seemed to have made it his life duty to torture and destroy the minds of every innocent student he encounters.

_Flashback_

_On the second day of school, Jinno-sensei was walking down the aisles passing back the pop quizzes they took the first day. Every time a paper was handed back a groan or a curse was heard. He strolled to the back of the room to where Mikan was chatting with Rukan in front of her (Hotaru and Ruka were sitting together in the table in front of Mikan now) and held out a paper with a grimace. Mikan picked her paper up with gusto, glanced at her grade, then smiled at Hotaru saying, "Ha 97 bet you can't beat that!" Jinno-sensei then gave Hotaru her paper who smirked after glancing at it. "98 pay up." Mikan humphed then handed over twenty rabbits. Jinno then walked towards Adina muttering, "Humph I guess that stupid Sakura learned something after all these years." He paused at Adina's table before handing her paper back with a frown and a "See me after class." Horrified, Adina turned her paper over to see a rearing F in red ink staring back at her._

_Jinno walked to the front of the room. "I've graded your quizzes and almost all of you FAILED! I would like to warn you that this is not some prissy class you can blow off. So unless you want to be held back a couple years, I expect everyone to shape up and do much better on the next test; however, sad to say I do expect to see some of you again unfortunately next year. You have been warned." He glared around the room or more specifically at Adina before continuing, "There were two of you who scored exceptionally well on this quiz and I would like to congratulate these two students. Please stand when I call your name. Mikan Sakura." Mikan stood up as everyone murmured, "As if that wasn't obvious." Jinno ignored them. "and Hotaru Imai." Hotaru stood up this time. Another obvious one. "Well done you two. You may sit down now. Our lesson today will be fairly simple since almost all of you failed yesterday's quiz. We will be learning about derivatives. Now as you know derivatives…" Jinno turned around and started scribbling on the board._

_Unable to comprehend what Jinno was talking about, Adina found herself drifting off, considering how late she stayed up for homework this was to be expected. She was about to fall into dreamland when…SHOCK! Adina jumped up in her seat to see Jinno's rod pointing at her, electricity running through it. "STARK! PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE NOW!" Still shocked, she sat there for a second. "I SAID NOW!" Adina jumped up and sprinted out the door, a furious Jinno screeching after her._

_Principal's Office_

_ The HSP was looking down at her with a frown on his face. "Ms. Stark, I've hoped your first week here was satisfactory but the complaints from some of your teachers suggest otherwise. Jinno informed me that he found you sleeping in class even when you received a failing grade on your quiz." He frowned. "I expected a better attitude from you Ms. Stark and I don't like being disappointed."_

_ "Yes sir…"_

_ "Good. I trust that you will try your best to keep up next time?"_

_ "Yes."_

_ "I hope we see excellent results from you Ms. Stark or I'm afraid we will have to change your star rank. I'm sure you would not like that."_

_ "No sir."_

_ "This is your last warning. That's all." The HSP turned his chair around, signaling he was done talking to her. Adina walked out of the office depressed. Now not only was she failing almost all of her classes, she was probably going to be demoted in the process. Life is really unfair._

_End Flashback_

* * *

><p>On Friday morning, Adina woke up exceptionally late. She had been studying for her calc test today and managed to cram everything into her head by 3 A.M. As a result she was now sprinting out of the empty dorms towards the classroom. She managed to make it to the school buildings two minutes before the bell rang. Students were milling around in the hallway walking leisurely to their classes but unfortunately for Adina her classroom was at the other end of the building which explained why she was sprinting down the long hallways. There is a reason why teachers always tell us not to run in the hallways. This reason manifested itself when, in her rush, Adina tripped over an inanimate object and managed to fall flat on her face in the middle of the hall, her books scattered around her with everyone nearby laughing their heads off. In a normal school probably someone would help her or ask whether she was hurt but not in Gakuen Alice. All the students were craning their necks or snickering into their palms.<p>

Adina pushed herself up onto her knees, noticing Melanie and her two cronies standing to the side not even bothering to hide their laughter. Great friends they were. On the verge of tears, Adina lowered her head but a hand latched onto her elbow and pulled her up. Another hand dusted her skirt off as a voice asked, "Are you hurt? Do you need to go to the nurse's office?" She looked up to see a pair of blue eyes staring at her with concern.

She blushed and avoided her gaze, "No I'm fine, Nogi-san." She pulled her elbow out of his grasp but instead of walking away he bent down and started gathering her books. All she could do was gawk at him until he finished and put the books into her hands. Ruka smiled and said, "You shouldn't run in the halls next time or you might get seriously hurt. Here, let me walk you to class." He took her right hand and kissed it before putting his hand above the small of her back and guiding her to the classroom. Adina flushed red all the way to her seat.

Back in the halls Melanie was staring after the two, furious that Ruka would help out someone like Adina. She gnashed her teeth together in rage. "Hey girls, what do you say about teaching new girl a lesson?" The two cronies nodded their heads eagerly. "Get everyone together. Tell them we have a new toy to play with."

* * *

><p><em>After classes<em>

Adina was walking past the high school buildings towards the football fields when something dropped on her head. She knelt down and picked up a crumpled up piece of paper. Unfolding it she read _look up_. Adina looked up and screamed as trash rained down on her, soiling her hair and uniform. A trash can followed, hitting her on the head as she fell. Who would do this to her? "What the hell? Sigh. I'll wash off in the locker room."

In the locker room she stripped her uniform off and walked into the shower. Unbeknownst to her two people came into the locker room. One holding a bucket of rotten smelling stuff, cackling as she walked to Adina's clothes; _Shhh_ the second person snickered. They left as they heard the showers turn off.

Adina walked out of the shower and gasped in horror. Rotten meat was dumped on her spare uniform, the juice dripping onto the tiles. She broke down and cried but realized she was late for football practice. She ran to the field, a pissed off looking coach waiting for her. "Ms. Stark you're late."

"I'm really sorry."

"Sorry's not going to cut it. Are you serious about this sport or not? If you aren't I suggest you quite NOW!" Her coach started yelling at her about the importance of punctuality and commitment to the team. Adina just stood there and took the lecture as the rest of the team stopped the game to watch the show. Sumire, who was waiting for the ball to be passed to her, frowned when the girl stopped dribbling and stared at something. She turned and saw Adina getting yelled at by the coach. Looks like someone showed up late today. Hearing someone laughing, Sumire looked back and saw Melanie laughing with a group of girls who were also chuckling insanely. Sumire frowned then ditched practice and ran towards the tennis courts.

After practice Adina was walking back to her room, still wondering why anyone would do something like this to her. She didn't do anything wrong or piss of the wrong person except the teachers but they wouldn't resort to bullying. So this was obviously the work of students but who did she piss off? Who would hate her so much?

* * *

><p><em>Next Morning<em>

Adina was walking down the hallway when someone foot stuck out and she tripped, falling on her face again. Everyone in the halls started laughing at her again. Then someone threw a raw egg on her, hitting her arm, the egg dripping off her sleeve. Someone else threw another egg and soon everyone started throwing raw eggs at her. Adina screamed for them to stop but no one listened to her so she just curled herself into a ball and prayed for the egg throwing to stop. Everyone went away when the bell rang, leaving Adina standing alone in the halls dripping egg. She cried then ran to the nurse's office.

The nurse looked at her state and went to the closet, pulling out a new uniform. Adina smiled her thanks and donned the new uniform after showering in the adjoining bathroom. The nurse gave her a pitying look as Adina ran to class. Because of the egg incident she was late for class and her teacher gave her detention.

The rest of the day got even worse for her. Adina's books were shredded. Graffiti was on her desk and during lunch everyone threw tomatoes at her so she just stayed in the restroom and cried the entire day.

* * *

><p>"Next time, don't be late," her teacher warned her, motioning her to leave the detention room.<p>

"Yes sir," Adina replied, closing the door behind her. Melanie was leaning on the wall in front of her.

"Adina. There's something I want to show you. Follow me." Adina nodded and followed Melanie who led her to a deserted building. Melanie pulled open the rusted door and waved Adina over. Adina walked to the door and looked into the pitch black basement. "Wha-?" A hand pushed her from behind and she fell down the three stairs onto the dusty floor, coughing up dirt. "Melanie, what's going on?" The door behind her closed.

"You think you're all _that_ don't you Adina?" Melanie taunted. Adina could make out Melanie walking down the steps. She looked around and saw they were not alone, a group of people were already in the basement, slowly surrounding her and Melanie in a big circle. "All high and mighty _just_ because you're a three star." Voices around her murmured in agreement.

"I…I don't understand. Aren't we friends?"

"HA! Friends? Why the hell would I want to be friends with a _bitch_ like you? I mean, what part of you deserves to be friends with someone like me?"

"Then why did you approach me?"

"Because you're the new girl. You were so cute seeming so lost and dazed so I thought it would be fun to mess around with you a little. You know, I was starting to like you too but then you decided to pull your innocent act on Ruka-sama."

"What? I don't know what you're talking about but how is Ruka a part of this?"

"DON'T LIE TO ME. I KNOW ALL YOUR TRICKS. YOU PRETENDED TO BE ALL CUTE AND INNOCENT AND DITZY. I MEAN, YOU PROBABLY FELL DOWN ON PURPOSE SO RUKA-SAMA WOULD PITY YOU AND HELP YOU! AND RUKA-SAMA'S INNOCENT ENOUGH TO GET PLAYED BY A BITCH LIKE YOU! DON'T THINK THAT I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE PLANNING!" Melanie stepped back and suddenly everyone turned on the flashlight they held on Adina so she was blinded. They started to throw trash and food on her again. A girl walked up to Adina and grinded her heel into Adina's hand which caused everyone to want a kick at her, all the while Adina was begging them to stop but they persisted, kicking her stomach and legs. Melanie laughed in the background and urged everyone to continue.

They kept this up for ten minutes before Melanie waved everyone back, revealing a trembling Adina. Melanie knelt down to Adina and pulled her up by her collar, bringing her face closer. "You want this to stop?" Adina nodded, sobbing. Melanie grinned and held her hand out for something. Someone lighted a candle and handed it to Melanie. She grabbed the candle and held it next to Adina's face. "All right, I'll let you go on one condition." She turned the candle so the flame was facing Adina. Adina started sobbing again. "If you can _spontaneously combust._" Melanie lowered the flame close to Adina's face and Adina opened her mouth to scream.

"Stop."


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice**

Chapter 4

_Basement_

Everyone looked up to see who dared interrupt them then as one they gasped. Mikan, Hotaru, and Sumire were standing in the doorway looking not so pleased. Everyone is shocked silent and Melanie dropped her candle in surprise. Her brain was obviously wondering how the hell those three were here. Mikan was standing in the middle with a pissed off expression on her face, arms crossed, with Hotaru on her right looking emotionless as usual and Sumire on her left who held an evil grin on her face.

Mikan walked gracefully down the steps as the shell shocked Melanie loosened her grip on Adina and backed away. Mikan knelt down to a sobbing Adina and held her hand out. Adina looked up with tears in her eyes at her savior. "Are you alright?" The group at the back were all stock still until Hotaru glared at the lot of them, pulling her baka gun out.

"Scram." Everyone suddenly rushed through a back door, leaving the four girls alone.

"Gosh," Sumire complained, "I wanted to scare them away." Mikan pulled Adina to her feet, took off her uniform jacket and put it around Adina's shoulders, leading her towards the steps.

* * *

><p><em>Mikan's Room<em>

The four were currently in Mikan's special star room. Adina was in the shower, washing the grime off, while the trio was waiting for her to finish in Mikan's bedroom. Adina walked out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her. Sumire handed her a new uniform. Adina held onto it, not knowing what to do now. "Change unless you want to walk around in a towel," Sumire scoffed as Adina flushed red at the thought of any guys seeing her that way. She was still hesitant to change in front of the girls who seemed like they weren't going anywhere. "Hurry up; we're not gonna rape you. Gosh, none of us swing that way." Adina jumped and dropped her towel, swiftly changing into the uniform.

Hotaru turned around and walked into Mikan's living room. "I'll take care of Melanie and her cronies," she said as she walked out. Mikan walked up to Adina and took her hand, dragging her through her suite to the door. "I'll walk you back to your room," she said as they exited. Hotaru sat herself down on Mikan's sofa and opened up her laptop. Sumire joined her in the living room and turned on the flat screen TV, flipping through the channels.

Five minutes after Mikan and Adina left, someone knocked on the door and entered. Sumire looked up, "Hey Ruka." Ruka nodded and sat himself next to Hotaru on the sofa.

"I feel bad," he muttered. Hotaru didn't look up from her laptop. "If it wasn't for me kissing her hand, Adina wouldn't have been bullied."

"That was part of the plan to get her away from Melanie," Hotaru replied without looking up.

"But I still feel bad."

"Here," Hotaru held up a close up picture of him kissing Adina's hand. Ruka flushed red. "Still feel bad?"

"HOTARU IMAI!"

* * *

><p><em>In the hallway<em>

Adina heard a scream and paused in midstep. Mikan stopped then chuckled, "It's probably Ruka and Hotaru going at it again." Adina sweat dropped then flushed at the memory of Ruka kissing her hand with a horrified expression on her face. Mikan laughed at that.

"Haha, so do you like him?"

"Huh? Who?" Adina blushed.

"Ruka. You're blushing."

"N…n…no…"

"Really?"

"Of course not!"

"Haha," Mikan laughed. They walked in silence for a while. "You know you should have stood up for yourself and not just allow everyone to bully you."

"I…know but I'm scared. What if I get embarrassed?"

"Aren't you already embarrassed either way?"

Adina was silent.

"Instead of just silently taking the punishment, you should have fought back. True, you'll have enemies but there will also be people who support you. That's what real friends do."

Adina thought back to how Anna and Nonoko were so nice to her but then Melanie got in the way. She hasn't hung out with them since. They probably hate her by now for ignoring them. "What if I did something horrible and they won't be my friends anymore."

Mikan looked at her for a second then smiled and replied, "If they are real friends they will forgive you." Adina smiled back. They were almost to her room when something hit her.

"Hey Mikan?"

"Hm?"

"Why…did you save me? I'm a nobody." The two reached Adina's room.

"Because we're friends and friendship is an important thing," Mikan smiled at her then turned to walk back to her room. Adina was left standing there, not comprehending anything beyond "we're friends." _Friends…friends…friends…wait. I'M MIKAN'S FRIEND!_

* * *

><p><em>Next morning<em>

Adina blinked her eyes open and stared up at the ceiling. Sigh, another horrible day. She was convinced yesterday didn't happen and she just dreamt everything as she went through her morning routines. She donned her shoes and opened the door.

"GOOD MORNING!" Mikan, Hotaru, Ruka, and Sumire were all standing outside her door. Adina froze for a second and slowly closed her door. _Okay calm down…you're not hallucinating…_She opened her door again slowly. Mikan, Ruka, and Sumire were still standing in their original positions with confused looks on their faces. Hotaru on the other hand held her baka gun out. "Oi Stark, time is money." AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

* * *

><p><em>On the way to class<em>

Mikan and Sumire were loudly chatting as they walked out the dorms. Hotaru was zooming away on her duck scooter, waving Ruka's photos, with a furious Ruka running after her. Adina, however, was slowly lagging behind with dark circles under her eyes. "Are you ok?" Mikan turned around, stopping her conversation with Sumire who also turned, looking irritated. Adina flushed red. "Adina?"

Sumire rolled her eyes at Adina, "Everyone has the right to be stupid but you're abusing the privilege."

"Permy!"

"Don't call me that!" Adina caught up with them as the three walked to class together.

* * *

><p><em>In the classroom<em>

Sitting in the corner, Melanie was currently plotting with her friends how to get back at Adina for managing to trick Mikan and her group. In her eyes, all the fault lay with Adina. Out of the corner of her eye, Melanie saw Mikan walk in and was about to call out to her when that stupid Adina came in behind her. Pissed off that Mikan would lower her standards like that, Melanie confidently walked up to Mikan. "Mikan, I thought you had more class than to hang out with riff raff like that." She then turned towards Adina. "AND YOU! HOW DARE YOU TRICK MIKAN AS WELL. YOU'RE SO GREEDY THAT RUKA-SAMA WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU! EVEN IF MIKAN CAN'T TELL THAT YOU'RE ACTING I _CAN_. YOU'RE SUCH A FAIL!"

"So was your dad's condom," Sumire smirked. Dumbstruck, Melanie turned to Sumire who smiled sweetly. Melanie looked relieved, probably thinking she was forgiven until Sumire spoke up again, "You know you might not be the worst person in the world but until one worse comes along, you'll do." Melanie rushed back to her friends and sat in the corner. Sumire then walked to Adina who was bowing her head in thanks and slung her arm around her. "I used to think Mels was just a big pain in the neck. Now I have a much lower opinion." Mikan laughed and sat down.

Adina walked over to her table, watching Anna talking to Nonoko. She was nervous about whether they would like her or not. Mikan's words from last night flooded her mind. _If they are real friends they will forgive you._ Adina swallowed and walked up to them. "Hey Anna, Nonoko." The two looked up from their conversation. Bowing, Adina apologized, "I'm so sorry for ignoring you last week. Please forgive me." Anna and Nonoko look surprised by they managed to laugh.

"So how many times did you have to flush to get rid of Melanie?" Nonoko asked. Adina smiled gratefully and hugged them.

After class Adina was chatting with Anna but Mikan walked up to her. "You want to join me for lunch?" Flabbergasted, Adina mouth flopped open. Anna chuckled and pushed her towards Mikan.

"Go have fun," she called as Adina followed Mikan.

* * *

><p>Throughout the next couple weeks Adina got closer with Mikan and her friends. Sure, she still hung around with Anna and Nonoko sometimes since she didn't want to lose them. (Anna and Nonoko were the ones who pushed her to hang out with Mikan) Turns out that Sumire wasn't as evil as Adina thought she was. She was just misunderstood and liked to keep up a tough bitchy front but was a complete sweetheart to her friends (Sumire's favorite pastime was now teasing Adina). Ruka was still the sweet blonde boy and still madly in love with Hotaru who tinkered with here inventions 247. And Mikan was the glue that held everyone together.

One afternoon, Adina was in the library being tutored by Mikan and Hotaru. Well, mostly Mikan; Hotaru was writing up a blueprint of her new invention. "So which classes are you having trouble in?"

"All of them…?"

"All right then let's start with Euro first since its first period." Mikan took out her book and flipped to this night's reading. "So I figured out our teacher's quiz patterns after the first week. His questions are always the third sentence of each paragraph in the assigned reading for each night. All you need to do is memorize that and you should be fine. If you don't get an A on the next quiz, you can blame me. Now…for…"

Their Euro teacher was handing back their quizzes. Pausing, he handed Adina her quiz. "Very much improved Ms. Stark." Adina flipped the quiz over. SHE GOT AN A! Once class was over, Adina rushed over to Mikan's desk and hugged her "I GOT AN A!"

"Yay!" They jumped up and down hugging each other as Hotaru eyed them, muttering, "Idiots."

This time Adina didn't feel awkward or out of place, unlike when she was hanging out with Melanie. She really enjoyed Mikan's company and what was better was that Melanie never bothered her again besides an occasional glare in the hallways but she could deal with that. Hotaru must have done something.

* * *

><p>One morning Adina got up and went to class, finding it completely empty. She wondered where everyone was and walked up to a guy in the hallway, "Do you know where everyone is?"<p>

"Oh, in the courtyard. Hyuuga's back." _Who's Hyuuga?_ Wondering who Hyuuga was, she walked towards the courtyard but suddenly heard the sound of a helicopter. She ran out and saw a group of people gathered, mostly girls holding up weird signs. She headed towards Hotaru, Ruka, and Sumire who were standing a little back from the crazy group of screaming girls.

"Where's Mikan?" Sumire pointed a little in front of them. The helicopter landed. A foot stepped out followed by a hand, grabbing the railing, and then the body and head followed. It was a raven haired boy with piercing crimson eyes. The girls started screaming even louder if that were even possible. Adina could make out a "NATSUME-SAMA!" and a "WELCOME BACK!" but that was it.

Natsume ignored the screams and looked around for a certain brunette in the crowd. The crowd parted like the Red Sea and he spotted her. _Mikan_. He walked towards her and stopped a foot in front of her. The two just stood there staring into each other's eyes for a couple minutes before Natsume reached out a hand, pulling a brown curl up to his mouth. He kissed it, eyes still locked with Mikan. He let her hair flutter back before clasping his hands around her slender neck, pulling her against him. "Mikan, I'm back."

Mikan smiled into his eyes, "Welcome back."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Natsume pulled something out of his pocket. It was a green lace hair tie. He tied Mikan's hair with it in a loose ponytail then kissed her forehead. "A present," he whispered in her ear. Mikan smiled up at him as they walked back to Mikan's friends with Natsume's arm around her waist.

* * *

><p><em>Next Morning<em>

Adina walked into the classroom. It was a typical day with random people using their Alices and causing havoc as usual. She walked up to her friends gathered around Hotaru and Ruka's desk. Hotaru was reading a book while Ruka was grooming his rabbit, sneaking glances at Hotaru once in a while.

"Hey Adina," Sumire greeted from her spot on the desk. Mikan and Natsume were absent.

"Where's Mikan and Hyuuga-san?"

"Sleeping late," Ruka answered.

Sumire scoffed and Adina looked up at her, "By sleeping late you mean Natsume's probably screwing her right about now." She jumped off from the desk. "Long story short, Natsume's a perv but he's head over heels for Mikan so whenever they're apart for a period of time, he gets really worried. That's why they spend time together right after they have missions and being that Natsume's a perv they spend time doing... yea. You get the point."

* * *

><p><em>Mikan's Room<em>

A faint glimmer of sunshine peeked through the curtains, illuminating the large bedroom. Clothes lay scattered everywhere around the floor as if they were cast aside in a rush to rip them off. The king sized bed was currently occupied by two people, its bed sheets rumpled as if a tornado had blown through them. Mikan slowly blinked her eyes open and looked up to see Natsume staring down at her with a smirk on his face.

"Hmm…Ne Natsume, what time is it," Mikan yawned, stretching her arms.

"Hn, probably around noon." Morning classes were over it seemed.

Mikan yawned again and propped herself up on her elbows, rubbing her eyes. She was prepared to get up but suddenly Natsume's arm reached out and grabbed her waist, pulling her on top of him. He tightened one arm around her waist and used his other hand to pull her head down to his. Their lips met in a kiss but Natsume wasn't satisfied.

He nipped her bottom lip, causing Mikan's mouth to open, and slipped his tongue into her mouth, which ended in a five minute make out session.

Mikan broke the kiss. "Natsume, we have to get up," she pouted but he ignored her and continued to rain kisses down her neck. He licked a spot near her collar bone then bit down hard.

Mikan yelped but he held her still, sucking the spot which left a hickey. Sighing, Mikan gave up trying to get Natsume out of bed and rolled under the covers with him.

* * *

><p>The bell rang, signaling the end of morning classes. Mikan and Natsume still haven't shown up. "Ne Adina-chan. Let's go eat lunch." Anna said. Adina nodded as she, Anna, and Nonoko left for the dining hall.<p>

* * *

><p><em>Special Star Balcony<em>

"Could the two of you get _any_ mushier? I think I'm gonna gag," Sumire whined at the sight before her.

Mikan and Natsume were currently sitting on the recliner; Mikan's feet were propped up on Natsume's lap while she fed him lunch. "Jealousy isn't pretty Permy," Hotaru responded.

Mikan looked up, her cheeks red, "Sorry Permy."

"Oi, Polka hurry up and get me the sushi," Natume complained, pulling on Mikan's hair. Mikan ignored him since he was asking so rudely and turned to Ruka.

"So Ruka-pyon do you know who you'll ask for the last dance yet?" Ruka blushed then glanced at Hotaru out of the corner of his eye.

"Yea…it's just I don't know if she'll say yes or not."

Irritated that Mikan was ignoring him, Natsume lit a curl of her hair on fire but Mikan instantly nullified it before it did any damage as she glared at Natsume who glared right back. Mikan broke the glaring contest and continued talking with Ruka. Fed up with Mikan's lack of attention, Natsume pulled Mikan onto his lap so she straddled him and lifted up her skirt.

"So it's strawberries today."

"NATSUME YOU PERVERT!"

Everyone in the dining hall jumped.

* * *

><p>The following week all the ability type classes were busy preparing for the coming Alice Festival so all classes were suspended that week. Adina was told that there were four types and everyone was split amongst those types but there was also another fifth type that only had seven students; that was the Dangerous Abilities class. The D.A. class was a class for all the students with dangerous Alices that are a threat for the Academy or so Adina was told. The D.A. was not allowed to participate in the Alice festival. Both Natsume and Mikan were in the Dangerous Abilities class, according to a classmate called Koko who had answered Adina's unspoken question.<p>

And since Natsume and Mikan were in the Dangerous Abilities class, they just spent the days wandering around the classrooms and helping people when they needed it. Well, Mikan cheerfully helped while Natsume just stood in the corner and waited until she was done.

They had just come back from the Somatic type's preparations or more like kicked out by Ruka who was practicing for the play in a Cinderella dress. All the technical types were individually preparing attractions and Hotaru had banned the two from her lab. The Special Abilities class was preparing another interactive game as they had since Mikan joined. Mikan helped them every year but stopped participating as one of the prizes since her two favorite sempais had already graduated.

Tsubasa and Misaki had graduated the previous year and were currently studying abroad at Oxford University in England. They told Mikan that they were planning to visit once the semester was over. Mikan and Natsume just walked out of the S.A.'s attraction.

Bored, the two decided to stop by Central Town. Mikan dragged Natsume to the Howalon shop (yes she still has an addiction to Howalon) where Natsume bought her a box and pulled her into the shade of a tree to rest.

Mikan was happily eating her Howalon when Natsume noticed something. "Why's your hair down?"

"I took a shower this morning so…"

"Where's the hair tie I gave you?"

"Here," she pulled her arm out, showing the hair tie around her wrist. Natsume pulled it off and tied her hair back with it.  
>"Next time tie your hair up every day. The only one you should let your down in front of is me." Mikan shrugged him off but he lifted her chin up towards him. "Mikan, you're mine," he stared into her hazel eyes.<p>

She responded by giggling, "You're such a caveman," and kissed him, "but you're _my _caveman."

He then pulled her onto his lap after she finished her Howalons and Mikan promptly fell asleep in that position.

* * *

><p>The Somatic types were putting up a play again as usual and Narumi dressed Ruka in a dress and made him walk around school for advertising. He was currently walking with Natsume, Mikan, and Hotaru. Hotaru's inventions were doing so well that she sold out on the first day, leaving her free for the rest of the week.<p>

"Hey, hey. Let's go over there," called Mikan, running ahead of the group as they walked at a leisurely pace.

"Natsume? How are you feeling?" Ruka asked.

"Hn."

"Don't try to push yourself. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"If you do Mikan will be upset and if you make that idiot upset be prepared to face my baka gun," Hotaru said nonchalantly.

"Natsume!" Mikan waved, "Over here, I wanna go on that ride."

Natsume nodded at Mikan then turned to Hotaru, "I'll protect her," he said before running off to Mikan. The two were silent for a couple minutes before Ruka spoke up again.

"Mikan-chan's really changed hasn't she? Ever since she went to the United States. I didn't even recognize her when she came back. The ditzy and hyper Mikan was gone. She was so…calm and composed…but underneath that polite veneer was a girl who was even crueler than Natsume."

Hotaru didn't comment on that. "Hey you guys! Hurry up!" Mikan called from the somatic type's attraction while pulling Natsume's hand.

"When I saw that side of her, I literally felt shivers up my spine. If the academy could turn someone like Mikan into a cold blooded killer, what would they do to the rest of us?" Ruka continued, "But even though she became like that, she still remembered us and our friendship. I mean, what if she turned into another Natsume?"

"But she didn't and that's what's important," Hotaru finally replied, "Now hurry up. I don't want to miss an opportunity to take pictures of those two."

* * *

><p>The Alice Festival had mostly come to an end by the last day which was given as a free day for everyone to prepare for the dance later that night. That morning Hotaru was surprisingly walking with Adina and Sumire to the dorms to prepare for the dance.<p>

Hotaru was riding her duck scooter while Adina and Sumire were chatting when suddenly they all felt the ground shake. "What the hell?" Sumire squealed as she and Adina fell but Hotaru was unharmed, seeing that she was hovering on her scooter. That's when they saw a stampede of students running on their left.

Adina and Sumire picked themselves up once the mob ran past; their mouths gaping open while Hotaru had already sped off, following the mob.

Mikan, Natsume, and Ruka on the other hand were not having a quiet relaxing morning like Adina or Sumire. Instead the three found themselves testing their speed and stamina, trying to outrun a mob of students; the mob was comprised of Mikan, Natsume, and Ruka's fans all trying to ask the three to dance.

Mikan and Natsume were happily spending some private time together walking hand and hand towards the dorm that morning only to see a stampede of fans attacking them. As they were running away they met up with Ruka who was also running from his group of fan girls.

The three have been running for awhile and were losing stamina fast. Panting, Mikan glanced back to see if they were still following them, "Holy crap, how much stamina do these people have…pant…pant."

"If you have energy to talk, keep running," Natsume grunted at her. Ruka was already gray in the face for exerting so much energy. They ran into the Northern woods when Natsume suddenly turned, pulling Mikan with him. He quickly dragged her towards a Sakura tree and jumped up, then leaning down to pull Mikan up with him. Their fans stopped and started looking around for them. "Where did Natsume-sama go?" "Noo Mikan-chan."

Meanwhile, Ruka, noticing that the two were gone, cursed Natsume and vowed to get back at him…if he could get out of this alive. His fan girls were still chasing him but suddenly a hand came out of nowhere and grabbed his arm. Ruka felt himself being lifted off the ground then unceremoniously dropped on something hard.

"Imai-san?" Ruka found himself hanging over Hotaru's duck scooter which hovered for a minute over the whining fan girls before zooming off.

Ruka was silent for most of the ride, content with staring at Hotaru's back before he voiced his question, "Why did you save me?"

Hotaru turned around and eyed him for a minute. Ruka thought she wasn't going to respond as usual but he was wrong. "If your fan girls ruin your face then no one will buy your pictures anymore. I have to protect my moneymaker," she emotionlessly replied, turning her head back. Ruka sweat dropped then smiled. Well Hotaru wouldn't be Hotaru if she didn't have any interest in money.

* * *

><p><em>Awards Ceremony<em>

All the students were standing in front of the stage, waiting for the student council to give out the awards while the faculty was standing on stage. The student council members and class representatives were all standing in front of the faculty. Adina was among the S.A. class waving at Inchou, Hotaru, and Mikan. What surprised her was that she saw Natsume on stage as well standing next to Mikan.

"And now our student council president will speak a few words before we start the awards ceremony." Everyone clapped as Natsume walked up to the microphone, his fan girls screaming the loudest. Then the students were all quiet, waiting in anticipation for Natsume to speak.

Natsume rolled his eyes at Mikan as if asking "do I have to do this". Sighing Natsume turned back to the microphone and said, "Life's a bitch; then you die," and walked back towards Mikan who was glaring daggers at him. The students started murmuring to themselves while the faculty was trying to think of something. Jinno looked like he was going to have a stroke while Narumi slapped his forehead. Natsume however was nonchalant as he stood next to Mikan who ran up to the mic.

"What Natsume was trying to say was that…uhm…life…can be…hard but everyone wants to be happy in life," Mikan paused as everyone tuned in, "We all want to live a perfect life and have a great job or marry Mr. Right or Mrs. Perfect. We want all the material things life can offer us and to have all our problems disappear. There are different levels and meanings to what a good life is but whatever your definition of it is, there is one thing we all have in common. And that is we will all die as Natsume pointed out." Mikan took a breath, "That is why we must take advantage of the time given to us to move forward and do the best we can. As Alices we have the ability to change the world. All we need to do is grasp it. And so we are gathered here to celebrate the unique gift of each of our Alices. Throughout the week, students and faculty members have exhibited tremendous drive and determination through the use of their Alices so now in honor or their achievements, I would like to commence with our Alice awards ceremony."

The student body roared its approval as faculty members breathed sighs of relief that at least their student council vice president was able to save them. Mikan breathed a sigh of relief. At least the hard part was over.

The technology class was awarded the Alice award while the S.A. class was crowned with the special prize. After the ceremony everyone rushed to set up the bonfire and get dressed for the dance.

* * *

><p>By the time Adina and Sumire got to the bonfire, the dance was already in full swing with couples slowly dancing with each other. Mikan and Natsume were slowly waltzing, completely oblivious to the jealous stares from their fans. Sumire sat down at a table across from Hotaru who was happily (as happy as Hotaru could be) inhaling crab after crab while Ruka was hovering next to her trying to ask her to dance. Adina joined Sumire.<p>

"Aren't you going to dance Hotaru?" Sumire probed as Ruka looked desperately at her.

"No." Sumire sighed then eyed a couple of boys who were staring their way.

"Adina, what do think of those guys?" Adina looked up from her shoes to lock eyes with a blue eyed boy.

"Hmm. They're cute."

Sumire leaned towards her and whispered into her ear, "So which one do you want?" She then eyed a blonde with a come hither look and a flutter of her lashes. The blonde blushed and looked at blue eyes who was staring at Adina as they walked over.

"Would you lovely ladies like to dance?" the blonde said, glancing over Sumire who smiled appreciatively.

"We would love to," she purred and let the blonde lead her to the dance floor. Blue eyes held out his hand towards Adina.

"Wana dance?"

Adina smiled nervously as she placed her hand into his. "Yes."

As the two were led off, Ruka sat down next to Hotaru who was staring at Mikan and Natsume, making sure Natsume didn't do anything perverted.

"I…Im…Imai-san? Do you want to dance?" Ruka stuttered.

"Hell no." Ruka sighed. The two just sat there and watched everyone else dance for the most part except when Hotaru sent Ruka to get more crab brains.

The emcee stopped the music and announced that the next song will be the Last Dance and for everyone to grab a partner. At this, Mikan who was still dancing with Natsume pulled her hands out of his and laced her arms around Natsume's neck. Natsume hugged her waist as they started swaying to the music.

Ruka was dejectedly starting to ask Hotaru to dance when she interrupted him, "Do you wana dance?"

"YES!" Ruka cheered, "I…I…mean…uh…yea." Hotaru pulled him towards the dance floor. She saw Mikan swaying happily with Natsume and smiled as they passed. Ruka was staring dumbstruck at Hotaru's smile.

Grasping Natsume's neck tighter, Mikan pulled her face closer to Natsume's as she leaned her forehead on his and grinned. Then Natsume did something that would probably double the money in Hotaru's bank account. He smiled back, making all the girls in the vicinity stop and stare at this incredible sight while Hotaru, as predicted, was snapping pictures of the happy couple with money signs in her eyes.

Eyes still locked, Natsume put one arm behind Mikan's back and the other under her knees and lifted her up, holding her in a princess carry as she wrapped her arms around his neck and he carried her towards their dorms.

* * *

><p><em>Next Day<em> _in Classroom_

The gang was as usual situated in their corner near the back of the room. Mikan and Natsume were sitting together with Mikan leaning against her boyfriend who was currently playing with her hair. Mikan, on the other hand, was chatting to her inventor friend about her dance with Ruka while the guy in question sat quietly next to Hotaru, blushing every once in a while. Adina entered the classroom and Mikan waved her over, standing up which pulled her hair out of Natsume's grasp. He frowned at that.

Adina walked up to Mikan's desk but tried to avoid looking at Natsume who was silently glaring at her for interrupting his fun. The student council president was presently scaring the hell out of her.

"Good morning Adina-chan," Mikan greeted, resuming her seat.

"Morning," Adina mumbled, still not looking at Natsume.

"Adina-chan, I don't think I had a chance to introduce you two," Mikan leaned her head on Natsume's shoulder, "This is Natsume Hyuuga, my boyfriend and lazy ass student council president." She poked Natsume in the cheek. "Natsume, say hi."

"Hn."

"Uhm…hi?"

Mikan laughed, "Don't worry he talks to everyone like that."

"Ok. Are all of you involved in student council?" Adina asked.

"In a way yea. Natsume's president, I'm VP, Hotaru is our class rep, Permy over there is our assistant, and Ruka usually pops in time to time to help out. Anyways I might as well be promoted to president considering our current president doesn't do anything." She glared at Natsume. "The only thing Natsume is good for is lazing around and reading manga."

"Well since you handle everything anyway, I don't see the need for putting in any effort," Natsume replied.

"The president shouldn't have that kind of attitude. You're the person that everyone looks up to so you should…" Bored, Natsume responded by lifting up Mikan's skirt, revealing polka dotted panties.

Mikan shrieked at Natsume as a surprised Adina looked on. Who knew that the polite and calm Mikan could actually be so…perky? A voice spoke up behind Adina, "Some things never change." Adina jumped then turned to see Hotaru filming the whole scene as Ruka laughed at the two.

* * *

><p><em>Lunch<em>

"So what does the student council do around here?" Adina was eating lunch with Anna and Nonoko when she asked. Her two friends looked up from their lunches.

"Well, for starters basically everything a regular student council does, I guess?" Anna replied.

"Yea, they're the ones who plan all our events and activities, get funding, resolve any problems among the students, and act as a mediator between the student body and the principals," Nonoko ticked off her fingers. Adina nodded. So guess the student council was the only thing normal about the school.

"Well, that's just the tip of the iceberg," Anna whispered, "You see, at our school the faculty and principals don't take part in student affairs. Everything is student run so because of that the student council has all the power over students. The type of system we have is not a democracy but a monarchy with the student council at the top of the food chain."

"Also, they act as the disciplinary committee when necessary which is why students give way to those part of the student council," Nonoko added.

"On top of that there are special privileges for being a part of student council and one of which is to make other students who are not part of them obey." Anna and Nonoko smiled at Adina, "Besides I doubt you're the type of person who gets into trouble."

Adina slowly nodded. So Mikan and her friends held all the power over the students. That helped to explain why everyone admired and feared Natsume.

* * *

><p>After school Adina was walking back to her dorm when she spotted Natsume talking to someone behind the trees. She walked back a little and saw it was Mikan. They looked like they were arguing about something. Mikan looked like she was protesting something Natsume said while Natsume seemed angry. They finally walked away together. Curious, Adina decided to follow them. Guess she didn't know curiosity killed the cat.<p>

She followed them to the Northern Forest where she saw them enter a clearing. Hiding behind some bushes, Adina saw Natsume and Mikan walking towards five other students. A small boy with gray hair looked up as the two approached and ran towards them, latching himself onto Mikan. A girl with wavy hair who looked a little older than Mikan and Natsume was sitting cross legged in front of a tree. The other three were all guys, standing off to one side, behind the girl.

Adina watched as Mikan, Natsume, and the boy joined them. "What the hell is with Persona? Calling us out and not showing up," the shortest amongst the three guys complained.

"So impatient, Hayato," another of the three guys who was blonde replied.

Who was Persona? And why were they waiting for him? Wondering, Adina leaned closer when a voice called out behind her, "Spying is a dangerous pastime."

Adina swirled around then screamed at the sight before her. "AAAAAAAAAAH!"


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews :D**

Chapter 6

Adina jumped up and screamed, backpedaling into the clearing before suddenly tripping and falling on her butt. She looked up to see the freaky man walk into the clearing, stopping in front of her. He had jet black hair and wore a lot of jewelry while his lips were painted black. She couldn't see his eyes because they were covered by a white mask.

The students gathered in the clearing looked up to see a girl jump out of the bushes with Persona following her, poor kid. Mikan frowned as Persona stopped in front of Adina.

"So you're the new student," the man in black stated at the trembling girl before him, "Adina Stark, amplification Alice…You're a rare bird aren't you?" He reached out a hand towards her but Adina felt something grab her arm and pull her backwards. It was Mikan, looking furious.

"Back off Persona. She's not going to be a part of this," Mikan growled, placing herself in front of Adina.

Persona let his hand drop to his side. "She'll be a good asset."

"NO, absolutely not."

"We'll see about that," Persona smirked at Mikan's glare. She turned around and pushed Adina towards Natsume before steeling herself in front of Persona.

"If she joins, our deal is off."

Persona pursed his lips for a moment as if considering Mikan's threat then smiled maliciously before turning towards Adina, "Would you like to join us tonight Ms. Stark?"

"What the hell are you thinking?" Mikan protested then glanced back, "Adina, get out of here now." Adina paused, unsure whether to satisfy her curiosity and stay or do what Mikan said.

"We should be accommodating our guest, Sakura."

"No way in hell, she'll only get in the way," Mikan glared, "Adina, go now."

What? She'll only get in the way? What the hell? "I'll stay thank you very much," Adina huffed. Mikan narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything as she walked past Adina to stand next to Natsume.

Persona smirked, satisfied, now on to business. "Was your mission successful Kuro Neko?"

"Hn." Natsume pulled something out of his pocket and threw it at Persona who examined it before pocketing it.

"Any trouble?"

"No."

"Did you meet with any hired mercenaries?" Adina looked confused. Hired mercenaries?

"Hn."

"What happened?"

"They're dead." Persona smiled, pleased, but Adina on the other hand stood stock still, shocked at how they were casually talking about killing.

"Good job, Kuro Neko." Persona turned to face the entire class, "Get to the simulation room and start training except, Kuro Neko and Hime. Stark follow everyone else and watch what they do." Adina got up and followed the rest of the group as Mikan and Natsume stayed behind. So Mikan is princess and Natsume is black cat?

Natsume and Mikan stood in front of Persona who looked at each of them. "New mission. You leave for Kyoto tomorrow."

* * *

><p>The next day in class, Adina slammed the door open and stomped to the back where Natsume and Mikan were sitting and slammed her hands down on their desk. Mikan lifted one eyebrow in amusement while Natsume ignored her and continued to stare out the window. "What is going on?"<p>

"What do you mean?" Mikan scoffed.

"I mean what the hell is the dangerous abilities class? Isn't it just a class for people with dangerous Alices? What the hell is with your creepy teacher and what the fuck are missions?"

Mikan didn't say anything but Natsume turned around and glared at her, "Shut the fuck up. You're annoying and don't go sticking your nose into someone else's business." That's when Ruka and Hotaru entered the room together surprisingly.

Patting his bunny, Ruka looked at Natsume glaring at Adina. "What's wrong, Natsume?"

Natsume ignored him but Adina spoke up, "These two have some explaining to do about something called missions and their dangerous abilities class." Everyone became silent at the mention of the D.A. class.

Suddenly Sumire popped up besides Adina, "Why's everyone so quiet? Did someone die or something?" Mikan groaned and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind her as Natsume got up and quickly followed her out. "What's up with those two? Natsume didn't get any last night?" Everyone looked at Sumire, appalled at her statement. Sumire seemed smug.

Annoyed that they wasted so much time, Hotaru sat down and pulled out a book. Ruka sighed before looking at Sumire, "It's the D.A. class. I'm guessing Stark-san saw them or something," before sitting down next to Hotaru.

"Oh, I see." Sumire nodded and smiled at Adina. "Hasn't Inchou explained before that there are four types of Alices?" Adina nodded. "In actuality we have five classes here and the fifth is the dangerous abilities type. It's a class that gathers students who have abilities that have been labeled as dangerous. And it's not that the class has a rule of secrecy, but for the most part, its true state of affairs is rarely spoken of. It's a class full of mysteries. That's about all I should tell you, I wouldn't get involved with them if I were you."

"If that's all I should know then what the hell did I just see yesterday?"

_Flashback_

_Adina was following the five students when the girl walked up to her. "Do you know Mikan-chan as well?"_

_Adina nodded, "Yea we're in the same class."_

_"I see, oh by the way my name is Nobara Ibaragi."_

_"I'm Adina Stark. Where are we going exactly?"_

_"Training," Nobara grimaced, "You'll see but I doubt you'll like it." They stopped in front of an abandoned building. "Let's go."_

_The first thing that hit Adina was the smell. It smelled like an office building with clean files and squeaky floors until she sniffed a couple more times. A dull fragrance permeated the air, but Adina couldn't pinpoint what the smell was exactly. They walked down the brightly lit hallway and the scent got stronger, that's when Adina figured out what that dull, disgusting smell was. Blood. Suddenly she felt trapped with no way out. She didn't know how long they were walking until they reached a room. They entered._

_The room looked like a mixture between a research lab and a security center but above the spread of computers was a wall of glass where you could see below them what looked like a huge warehouse, complete with crates to some of the sides. A large area was cleared in the middle of the warehouse._

_There were three other people in the room with them and by the looks of their lab coats they were scientists. One of them walked up to them. "Which one of you wants to start?"_

_The guy called Hayato from before volunteered, "Just get it over with," he said and walked towards the table at the other side of the room and lay down on it._

_The scientist guy turned to everyone else, "All of you in the simulation room." They nodded and walked out. He looked at Adina, "Are you new?"_

_"No…Persona told me to come and watch." The guy nodded and told her she can watch what Hayato was doing or what everyone else was downstairs. She walked up to the glass wall and stared down as the D.A. class entered the room._

_The scientist guy sat down in front of the computers and spoke into some microphone, "All right Yoichi you're with Nobara and Rui you're with Hajime. Start now." The four separated into twos and started circling each other. Unsure what was going on, Adina thought this was some kind of test thing until she saw the Hajime guy with weird bandages around his head unleash a swarm of insects around the blonde. Then the gray haired boy Yoichi started running towards Nobara. They were fighting. What's going on?_

_Nobara took a step back and released a blockade of ice while the blonde, Rui jumped up and dodged the insects. Adina turned around and saw the other two scientists attaching wires to Hayato's body. One of them was monitoring the screen in front of them. The world must have gone insane._

_End Flashback_

"So that's what happened," Adina finished recounting what she saw to Sumire who was staring wide eyed. "I think I have a right to know what is going on."

Sumire didn't say anything for a second then sighed, "All right, I'll explain. Remember what I told you before about the D.A. class? Well, that's what it is to everyone else. In public, the "Dangerous Ability type class" is just a name for the group of students who have dangerous alices like Mikan and Natsume. In reality, it's a training section used to turn students who have alices that the Academy consider useful into Black Ops soldiers."

"So Mikan and Natsume…?"

"That's right; they were recruited into the Academy's Black Ops. Those two are the greatest masterpieces Persona has ever created."

"Who are mercenaries? I heard Persona ask about them."

"They are Alice wielders who let large corporations hire them for their Alices. They're mainly recruited as soldiers or body guards."

"And the missions?"

Sumire sighed, "You know how our school is sponsored by the government right? Well the school principals are appointed to manage the school but they get their orders from the Council of Elders which is made up of the top government officials of all the first world countries."

"What does that have to do with the missions?"

"The Council is the one who assigns the missions to the Academy to do their dirty work." Sumire finished, "Anyways that's why you shouldn't involve yourself with the D.A. class."

* * *

><p>That night in the northern forest two people dressed in body tight black suits were waiting for Persona. Mikan pulled on her gloves just as Persona appeared in front of them, handing Mikan a stone. "Go."<p>

The two disappeared only to be teleported outside a building surrounded by a forest. Mikan and Natsume were both crouched on top of a tree branch, watching the building. Mikan slipped a white mask from her pocket and slipped it over her eyes; Natsume's cat mask was already in place.

_Flashback_

_"You leave for Kyoto tomorrow."_

_"What's the mission?" Mikan asked._

_"This organization," Persona held out a piece of paper, "has found out about the existence of Alices recently and have started recruiting alice wielders from around the world; however, they aren't using those Alices."_

_"What are they doing?" Natsume narrowed his eyes._

_"They're using them for experiments. Apparently they believe that since we are just normal people with special abilities, they want to artificially create Alices through our DNA. So they have become suspicious of our school, Gakuen Alice and according to this file have managed to gather information on some of our students."_

_"So you want the information back." Natsume stated._

_"Yes, more or less."_

_"What about the Alices that were captured?" questioned Mikan._

_Persona paused as if contemplating whether to tell them or not, "I already sent a rescue unit. So remember to retrieve all the files they have on the Academy and to make sure they heed our warning, I want you to destroy their research facilities. And just a precaution, be careful in case you meet up with any mercenaries."_

_End Flashback_

Natsume and Mikan studied the building. The most guards were placed at the main entrance while a couple of men were watching from the second floor of the building. Natsume pointed to the side with the least guards and nodded to Mikan. They leapt off the branch and crept towards the side Natsume pointed to. Natsume pulled his gun out of the holster and shot the one sentry on duty before rushing towards the main gate while Mikan ran the other way.

She climbed up the building towards the air vent. Hanging in midair, she kicked it open and crawled in. Crawling on her hands and knees, she pulled out a device that held the blueprints of the building. According to that there was an opening to her right. She crawled through the air vent towards the exit. Looking downwards, she saw one man on guard. She pulled the air vent open then dropped out, catching the guy by surprise before knocking the guard out with a kick on the head. Mikan executed a back flip from the impact and landed on her feet, the guard passed out in front of her.

"I'm in," she talked into her mouthpiece then ran down the hall.

* * *

><p>Natsume heard her as he was running towards the main entrance, stopping to blow off the front door of the building, causing an alarm to sound and soldiers to rush out and surround him. Natsume activated his fire Alice, surrounding them in a ring of fire, causing all of the soldiers to panic which gave him enough time to effectively knock them out. As he finished the last one with a kick in the gut, a group of men barricaded the entrance.<p>

Natsume looked at them. Persona was right, they did hire mercenaries. Smirking, Natsume crouched then rushed at them.

* * *

><p>"Ugh." The guard grunted as Mikan knocked him out with a roundhouse kick in the gut. She walked towards the door at the end of the hall which was mostly empty since Natsume had successfully triggered the alarm.<p>

Mikan stared at the steel door then at the security system next to it which required a pass code, finger scan, and DNA sample. Hmm seems difficult. Sighing, she approached the system, pulling out a small device then connected it with a wire before beginning to hack into the system. "Stupid firewall," she muttered then began typing furiously.

A couple minutes later the screen blinked _Identity Confirmed_ and the door slid open. Mikan smiled, "Bingo." She entered the main computer room and sat down on the chair in front of her before pulling out a small disc and inserting it into the hard drive.

Once she finished copying the files, she activated her stolen water Alice and destroyed the computer system. Hearing voices shout in the hall, she swiftly turned to see two men holding guns at her. "Don't move."

Mikan paused for a second as if analyzing the situation then suddenly kicked the chair in front of her at them. A shot rang out but Mikan dodged, the bullet nicking her cheek. The man who shot was mowed over by the flying chair. The other man took aim but Mikan suddenly disappeared. He looked around, confused when he felt a presence above him. It was Mikan.

She slammed her leg down, effectively knocking one man out with a kick then landed on one foot, using the momentum from her fall to swing a punch in the other man's gut, causing him to keel over. She then elbowed his neck, breaking it with a snap and swiftly dashed out into the hallway to see a group of men pointing guns at her.

Wow. Mikan slapped her forehead, "Greeaat."

* * *

><p>Natsume kicked a man in the gut, and then burned another. He stood up, panting, and looked at the pile of bodies around him. That killed all the mercenaries. Pulling his mouthpiece down, he spoke into it, "Done yet princess?"<p>

_Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! _Mikan dodged as another round of bullets zoomed past her, lodging itself into the wall. She jumped and performed a back flip before landing on her feet behind the men, "Yea, almost."

Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a couple of smoke bombs and threw them behind her, blinding the soldiers. Reaching into her bag again, she pulled out a couple of explosives, dropping them as she quickly ran down the hall.

The hallway opened out into a larger hall. Mikan was currently on the second floor. Looking around her, she saw no exits, except…she glanced upward and noticed it was a glass ceiling. Mikan jumped off the railing, shooting a wire from her wristband, and pulled herself up to the roof. She broke through the roof and jumped out before planting an explosive next to the hole. Mikan ran towards the edge of the roof and jumped off.

Natsume finished setting the final bomb on the buildings foundation, speaking into his mouth piece as he ran towards cover, "Clear."

Mikan teleported in midair just as the first bomb went off, landing next to Natsume in the forest. They watched as the building crumbled down before teleporting away.

* * *

><p>The two landed in the northern forest back at the Academy, both on their knees, panting hard. Mikan picked herself up to her feet but an arm reached out and pulled her down again, running his hands over her body.<p>

"Natsume? What're you doing?" Natsume let his hands linger on her back then hugged her tight, pulling her body against his.

He leaned his head on the crook of her neck, "Thank God…" Mikan circled his neck with her arms, confusion in her eyes. "You're not hurt."

Natsume looked up and narrowed his eyes, noticing the bullet nick on her cheek. Mikan blushed at his glare then shrugged nonchalantly, muttering that it wasn't anything serious.

He ignored her and leaned into Mikan's face and licked the blood off. Mikan let him have his way as he got in a few more licks before she pushed his face out of the way. "Stop raping my cheek, pervert."

Natsume humphed. "Were you hit, Natsume?"

"No." Natsume stood up and held his hand out to Mikan, "It's late. You should get some sleep." Mikan put her hand in his and let him pull her up as they teleported away again.

* * *

><p>Everything was normal the next morning in class. Mikan was sleeping and Natsume was lazing around as usual with is feet up on their desk while the rest of the class was focused on the lesson. Someone knocked on the door.<p>

"Enter." Hayato walked in.

"Persona sensei wants to see Hyuuga and Sakura." Natsume opened one eye at the mention of his name then shook Mikan awake before pulling her towards the door with Mikan muttering about disturbing her sleep the whole trip.

Adina had been carefully taking notes of the lecture when that Hayato guy came in asking for Mikan and Natsume. She wondered what Persona wanted to talk to them about. Mikan was sleeping in class today. Usually it was the opposite with Natsume sleeping and Mikan paying attention. As the two passed by her desk she remembered Sumire telling her about the D.A. class.

_In reality, it's a training section used to turn students who have alices that the Academy consider useful into Black Ops soldiers…Black Ops soldiers…_

Persona was waiting for the three in the Northern Forest. "How did it go?" Mikan took something out of her pocket and handed it to Persona. He nodded before speaking again, "You two have another mission tonight. Do you know about Kassem Al-Hosseini?"

"That Iranian diplomat that was detained by Egyptian officials for passing information to Iran?" Mikan probed.

"Yes, he was recently released; however Egyptian officials are skeptical about his innocence."

"What information did he pass?" Natsume asked.

Persona smirked, "Sharp as always. Information about our Dangerous Abilities class. It seems Kassem was suspicious about the sudden inflation of power and effectiveness of the Egyptian armed forces."

"We have finished a couple of missions for them recently…" Mikan mused, glancing at Natsume who nodded.

"Yes, but even though Egyptian officials have no choice but to release him, they believe he is a threat considering the information he could have gathered. That's where you two come in. I need you to make sure he won't cause any more problems again." Natsume narrowed his eyes. "He will be attending a social gathering in a couple days to celebrate his return. Attend and when the opportunity is there, kill him."

Mikan and Natsume were walking back to their dorm hand in hand when Adina spotted them, wondering what they were thinking about so seriously.

* * *

><p>"Oi Polka dots, you ready?" Natsume knocked on his bedroom door. Geez, women take so long to get ready.<p>

"Could you go one day without calling me polka dots? I have a name you know." Mikan called through the door before stepping out. Natsume felt his breath hitch at the sight of her in that bright red bustier dress and nude pumps, a statement necklace around her neck and cocktail ring on her right ring finger.

Mikan inwardly laughed at Natsume's dumbfounded expression before leaning close to him, sliding a finger down his chest, "What do you think?"

Natsume ran his eyes over her figure again, letting out a groan as he saw how short the dress was, ending mid thigh and clinging to her curves like a second skin. Red was definitely her color. "Too short, you're showing way too much skin it's indecent. What does that bastard Persona want you to dress like? A slut?" The thought of anyone other than himself, especially a male, seeing Mikan dressed so scantily made him see red.

Mikan simmered at the critique but laughed it off as Natsume being possessive of her again. True, the dress was a little too short and tight for comfort but part of their mission was to get Kassem alone and Persona mentioned how he had a weakness for slutty women, which explained why Mikan dressed herself like a stripper but Mikan understood why Natsume was worried.

She hugged his stiff figure, "Don't worry about me Natsume, I can take care of myself. Besides, it's just a mission." Natsume growled but his face became calm at the mention of their mission.

"Bastard better keep it that way or he'll find himself in hell," Natsume muttered, stalking out of the room. Mikan laughed and followed him, quietly closing the door behind her.

* * *

><p>The ball room was tightly packed with diplomats and their trophy wives, mingling and chattering. Mikan spotted their target the moment she walked in. He was chatting with another man, a blonde and brunette in each arm. Figures. Mikan sighed then composed her face into a gentle smile before walking towards the man. She took only two steps and found herself swarmed with a group of young men asking who she was, where she was from, who she came with, why she was there, yada yada yada…Mikan growled under her breath. Maybe the dress was a bad idea.<p>

She looked through the sea of heads and noticed her target moving farther away, towards the bar area. The chattering around her was driving her crazy as she slapped a wayward hand. "Excuse me gentlemen," she glided past them and dove into the crowd, (hopefully) in the direction of her target.

* * *

><p>Natsume punched a guard in the face, smashing his teeth, and knocking him out. Alright the perimeter was clear, now to set the bombs. He gnashed his teeth together at the thought of Mikan in that dress in a room full of males. The moment he saw in that dress he wanted to screw the mission and ravage her right then and there in their room. Sighing, Natsume ran his hand through his messy hair. Hopefully, Mikan could fend off any guys that came her way. He trusted her. Yeah, he trusted her.<p>

* * *

><p>"Excuse me ladies, I need to talk to Mr. Al-Hosseini for a bit," Mikan purred at the man in front of her while batting her lashes. Kassem pulled his tongue out of the blonde's mouth and gave Mikan a once over. He grinned maliciously before widening his legs, giving the blonde and brunette more room to stroke his groin. He snaked his hand to the brunette's bottom and filled his other hand with a breast of the blonde, continuing to study Mikan.<p>

At this point Mikan was fidgeting in her dress, unsure where to look at the display before her so she settled for looking straight into his eyes. Kassem grinned then pulled himself up along with the girls. "Excuse me ladies," he gave the blonde's ass a slap to motion the two off. The two women left, glaring daggers at Mikan.

"So? What's a pretty lady like you want with me?" Kassem leaned in close enough that Mikan could smell alcohol on his breath. Before Mikan could reply he whispered in her ear, "I believe a more private setting would be appropriate, Mikan Sakura."

Mikan stared wide eyed? What the fuck? How the hell did he know her name? Who ratted them out? Kassem smiled before leaning back, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. You're choice." He motioned someone with his hand. Mikan composed herself before pulling a compact out of her clutch. She looked at it, finding two bulky men staring at her from behind.

Mikan looked past Kassem's shoulder where another two men were positioned near the exit. She grinned up at the diplomat before tripping him and sprinting towards the back of the room. A hand caught her as she attempted to navigate through the crowd, pulling her back towards Kassem who was picking himself up from the ground.

"So hard way it is."

* * *

><p><em>Blam! Blam! Blam!<em> Shit. Natsume jumped to the side, managing to dodge the first bullet but the last two caught him by surprise, lodging themselves in his shoulder. He glared at the man who shot him, instantly setting him ablaze but another volley of shots rang out.

Natsume sprinted out of the alley where he was setting up bombs, the men following him. What the fuck? Who the hell gave them away?

* * *

><p>"Ugh." Mikan found herself thrown into a hotel suite, arms bound. She glared up at her captors as Kassem leaned down towards her. He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him.<p>

"So Persona sent a pretty one this time?" He leaned his face towards her but Mikan shook her chin out of his grasp and bit down hard on his hand, causing Kassem to leap back, cradling his hand. Scowling, he backed away from her, "Hm no manners. Boys, let's teach our guest a lesson."

The four mercenaries surrounded Mikan and began to punch and kick her.

* * *

><p>"AAAAAAAAH!" The last soldier let out a blood curling scream before Natsume incinerated him. Panting, he wiped his forehead. So far so good. He managed to kill all the guards but he was worried about Mikan. If they managed to track him, it must be even more dangerous where Mikan was. I mean what if…<p>

BAM! "Argh." Natsume collapsed on the ground, before jumping up to see who ran into him. The man grinned widely. Mercenary. The mercenary sprinted towards Natsume, swiping a hand out but Natsume dodged then threw a fireball at the guy. He jumped away and ran towards Natsume again, but Natsume wasn't prepared and held his arms over his face to block the blow but he punched him in the gut.

Crumpling on the ground, Natsume coughed up blood as he felt his ribs. Yep, two broken ribs. Natsume pulled himself up from the ground, the gun wound from before bleeding profusely. They started sparring with punches and kicks but Natsume surrounded him with a ring of fire, burning the mercenary.

Panting hard, Natsume collapsed on his knees, coughing up more blood.

* * *

><p>The mercenary pulled back from beating up Mikan as he watched her spit out blood. She was pretty bloodied up with cuts and bruises everywhere and a couple broken bones. Looks like the guys are tired out from beating her up. Alright, Mikan braced herself as the men turned around, cutting her bound arms with her water Alice. As they turned around, Mikan whipped out her knife, strapped to her thigh, and took out the first guy with a gash in his neck before throwing herself towards the other three.<p>

"I wonder how much an Alice would sell for." Kassem thought to himself. He was currently debating whether to sell or keep Mikan when one of the mercenaries he hired crashed through the door, landing dead.

Kassem jumped to his feet as Mikan entered the room, blood streaming from her wounds. She looked like an avenging angel. "Look," he held up his hands, "We can negotiate this. Just…just…" Mikan paused and smirked at him before flicking her wrist.

Water blades shot up from the floor, stabbing Kassem throughout his body and killing him before his body hit the floor. Mikan stood there, panting before falling on her knees. Wow, they beat her up good. She pulled her mouthpiece closer, "Natsume?"

"…I'm here."

"You hurt?"

"Nothing serious, just a couple broken bones and a gunshot wound."

"Alright, I'm teleporting us back," Mikan said before cutting Natsume off. She teleported both of them back to the northern forest.

Mikan landed on her stomach, weak from blood loss. "MIKAN! WHAT THE FUCK DID THEY DO TO YOU?" Mikan looked up at Natsume's bloody figure.

"And what about you?" she muttered weakly. Natsume brushed her off and picked himself up with Mikan in his arms before rushing towards the hospital.

* * *

><p>Adina was sitting behind a tree, waiting for Mikan and Natsume to show up a couple minutes before.<p>

_Flashback_

_Mikan and Natsume were heading towards their dorm after getting called out of class. Adina was naturally curious and began to follow them when Persona suddenly appeared before her._

_She jumped back a couple steps before asking, "Persona-sensei are Mikan and Natsume being sent on another mission?"_

_"Find out for yourself. Go to the northern forest around 3 A.M. in the morning and you'll see," Persona replied before disappearing again._

_End Flashback_

And so here she was, sitting on the ground at 3 a.m. in the morning waiting for Natsume and Mikan to show up. Adina sighed and glanced at her watch. She had been waiting for half an hour now. Adina sighed, maybe Persona didn't send them out on a mission as she pulled herself up.

Suddenly she heard a thud and voices muttering behind her. Adina looked around the tree and gasped. Mikan and Natsume! But they were both covered in blood. Mikan was collapsed on the ground while Natsume pulled her into his arms.

Adina watched as Natsume ran towards the hospital, holding Mikan.

Why? Why were those two hurt? Is this what happens every time they go on missions? It wasn't fair.

"Did you see them," a voice whispered. Adina whirled around. Persona. He stepped in front of her. "It doesn't have to be this way."

Adina glared, "What do you mean? Is this what happens to Mikan and Natsume after every mission? WHY ARE THEY HURT? WHY? WHY MUST THEY GO ON MISSIONS? WHY?"

"Like I said, it doesn't have to be this way."

"How?"

"Use your power to save them."

"HOW?"

Persona paused, "How far would you be willing to go for your friends?"

"I…I just don't want to see them hurt anymore."

"Well, considering both Mikan and Natsume take on extremely difficult missions it's almost impossible for them to return unscathed…" Adina looked downcast. "However if you were to join them, their survival rates will drastically increase."

"What? M-m-me? Join _them_? B-b-but, I won't be of any help even if I go on missions."

"That's where you're wrong. Your amplification Alice would be extremely useful, but if you don't want to then there's nothing I can do." Persona slowly turned, as if walking away…one second…two…three…

"WAIT!" Persona smirked to himself before halting and looking back at Adina. Adina took a breath before looking at Persona straight in the eye.

"I'm in."


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

_"I'm in." _What the hell was she thinking when she said that? Adina asked herself as she pondered how rashly she jumped at Persona's offer. She could get herself killed. Sighing, she mentally kicked herself. Maybe she should have considered what Persona said before practically screaming "I want to die young." Sigh, really…of all the _stupid_…WTF? IS THAT HOTARU?

Adina quickly scampered back to the window and looked out of the building at the small courtyard underneath her. The world has officially come to an end. Hotaru is actually _talking_ to a _guy._

* * *

><p>Ruka sighed as he slowly walked towards the high school building. Sadly Hotaru wasn't in her room this morning. Despite proclaiming indifference to his many advances, Hotaru actually conceded to let Ruka walk her to school every morning. And so dear Ruka was happily skipping to Hotaru's room only to find out his favorite inventor had already left.<p>

Pouting, Ruka was walking towards the high school building when heard someone ask "So…do you want to go out this Saturday?" Probably some guy confessing. Ruka shrugged it off but immediately stopped in his tracks when he heard the answer "Fine."

That voice sounded too familiar. He must be hallucinating and decided to take a peek at the two lovebirds.

Ruka parted the bushes and walked into view before his mouth dropped, his books splattered across the ground. "Hotaru."

Hotaru looked up from the guy who was embracing her and simply lifted an elegant eyebrow.

On the other hand, Ruka was furious. Hotaru was _his_. How dare that guy hug her and she wasn't _resisting?_ He grabbed Hotaru's arm, jerking her out of the bastard's hold and threw her behind him, growling at the guy who was mad at first but ran away once he realized it was Ruka. He didn't want the guy to send lions after his butt.

Ruka glared after the bastard and turned to face Hotaru. "Ho—" BAKA BAKA BAKA BAKA BAKA BAKA BAKA "What the hell was that for?" Ruka protested from the ground.

"For being and idiot," Hotaru lifted her baka gun again, "and meddling in my affairs." BAKA.

Ruka rubbed his cheek, "But…but…but he…you…you can't do that!"

Hotaru raised an eyebrow, "Why not?"

"Well…because…because," Ruka took a breath before screaming, "BECAUSE I LOVE YOU…but…you don't see that. Hotaru, I care about you more than I've cared about anyone else. I…"

"Will you ever shut up?" Ruka's eyes widened. "Whomever I choose to be with doesn't concern you so don't go sticking your nose in my business." Hotaru stated before walking away, leaving Ruka staring at the ground.

"Wha…?" He looked at his hands "She doesn't…" At that moment he felt something snap inside him.

* * *

><p>Hotaru was sitting by herself as usual working on another invention. Stupid businessman wanted a robot pig to entertain his daughter. What did they take her for? A toy inventor? She put down her pencil and rubbed her forehead. Mikan and Natsume were still in the hospital due to their last mission but were supposed to be released today. Hotaru refused to let any facial expressions conveying worry to cross her face but inside she was terrified about what could have happened to those two, especially Mikan.<p>

Noisy commotion jerked her out of her musings and Hotaru stared wide eyed at the front of the room. Ruka had walked in surrounded with his fangirls. That much wasn't surprising but what really shocked her was that he wasn't ignoring their advances and telling them to back off as usual but he was actually welcoming them. Hotaru raised an eyebrow. Interesting. She went back to work but couldn't help but steal glances at Ruka.

Adina caught up with Sumire before class as they walked into the classroom together, pausing at the sight before them. WTF? Why the hell was Ruka in front with his fan girls instead of Hotaru who was sitting alone in the back?

Curious, Adina walked up to Ruka but got pushed back by the fan girls squealing and clinging to him. "GET LOST YOU BITCHES!" The fan girls glared at the person who dared talk to them but immediately turned tail and fled once they realized it was Sumire.

"What's going on?" Adina pulled herself in front of Ruka, "And what the hell are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" Ruka lazily replied without making eye contact.

"I mean what the hell are you doing hanging around those ridiculous fan girls. Everyone knows you hate them."

"Maybe I changed. I mean, who hates having all the attention." What? Adina could not believe what he just said when she felt something slide around her shoulder.

Ruka put his arm around her and pulled her closer, "So are you doing anything tonight." Before Adina could properly tell him off, Sumire stalked up to him and slapped him across the face, dislodging him from Adina's shoulder.

Sumire glared at Ruka, "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Asking Adina out. What does it look like?"

"What about Hotaru?"

Ruka narrowed his eyes, "What about her?"

"Why aren't you clinging to her like an idiot as usual? I thought you said you wouldn't give up on her. Don't you love her?"

"Feelings can change. Besides, there's no use clinging to someone who won't return your feelings…"

Sumire cut him off, "So you're trying to get her attention by flirting with your sluts."

"WHAT? No way, it's just…well…" Ruka protested.

Putting one hand on her hip, she looked down at him "You know Ruka I honestly don't care what you're doing so much as the idiotic way you're doing it." Flipping her hair, Sumire stuck her nose up in the air and swanned past him.

Adina glanced at Ruka before muttering something along the lines of "disappointing" and went to join Hotaru and Sumire.

* * *

><p><em>Lunch<em>

The three girls were walking to the dining hall as Adina wondered where they'll sit if Mikan and Natsume were absent. Hope they're fine.

"I wouldn't worry about those two," a voice interrupted her thoughts as Koko popped up in front of her.

"Hey Koko and what do you mean."

Koko pointed at the balcony where she saw Mikan waving to them. Adina turned to thank Koko but the weirdo was gone. They walked up to the balcony and upon reaching the top, Adina's face turned bright red, her mouth wide open while Sumire raised an eyebrow and Hotaru simply ignored the sight of Mikan and Natsume making out in front of her.

Mikan moaned as Natsume thrust his tongue expertly in her mouth. His hard lips moved on hers and she softened, molding her body against his as she straddled his lap. With a mental sigh, Mikan lifted her arms and draped them over his shoulders as Natsume shifted closer. The slide of hard fingers over her breast caused her to gasp. She leaned towards the side of his face, her tongue flicking his earlobe as she licked sensuously. Natsume growled as Mikan pressed intimately against him.

Natsume grasped her chin firmly, his mouth pressing roughly on hers but Mikan didn't seem to mind since she instantly responded to his kiss by fisting her hands onto the collar of his shirt. Her right hand slid down to his chest as Natsume's hand came up to secure Mikan's head while he slanted his mouth, thrusting his tongue inside and sucking her lower lip.

Thrusting upwards, his lower body ground against Mikan's, earning a soft moan from her as Natsume quickly flipped their position around with Mikan lying on the recliner, Natsume on top of her. At this point, his hand swiftly slid underneath Mikan's skirt to cup her bottom.

Mikan's eyes glazed over as her boyfriend's lips left her mouth to leave a trail of kisses down her neck. A soft gasp and "ahem" reminded her exactly where they were making out.

Noticing movement out of the corner of her eye, Mikan lifted her head as Natsume made an annoyed sound and continued fluttering kisses on her neck. Mikan's eyes widened. "Ah…you guys."

They all stood still for a moment before Mikan began blushing madly and pushed Natsume off of her.

"Shit. What the fuck?" Natsume swore, glaring at the ones who dared to interrupt him.

"That's my line." Sumire stated calmly, "The least you guys can do is make out in a corner or something and not a public dining hall." The three girls sat down as Mikan joined them, still blushing bright red but noticed that Hotaru wasn't making a scathing comment to Natsume as usual.

The raven haired inventor was unusually quiet and was simply staring off into space. "Hey Hotaru, did something happen?"

"…"

Mikan sat down next to Sumire, "Did something happen?" Natsume picked himself up and squished himself between Mikan and Sumire, slinging his arm around Mikan's shoulders.

"Well it happened this morning…" Adina began but Mikan was interrupted by Natsume trying to steal a kiss. Still embarrassed, she pushed his face away from hers which further irritated the Hyuuga and no you don't want to do that. "Ruka was kind of acting out of character…" Adina explained what occurred during class to her as she fended Natsume off with her hand.

Pissed, Natsume jerked Mikan towards him. "That bastard!"

Natsume, Mikan, and Adina looked up to see Sumire staring down at someone from the balcony.

"What?"

"Who?"

"Hn."

Sumire pointed. The three got up and leaned over the balcony to see where Sumire was pointing. It was Ruka eating with his fan girls who were all smothering him. Mikan wrinkled her nose at the sight, immediately put off that Ruka would leave Hotaru so quickly. "I'll talk some sense into the idiot," she began to stalk towards the stairs but suddenly an arm hooked around her waist and pulled her against a hard chest.

Mikan questioned him with her eyes. "It's none of your business," Natsume muttered.

"But Hotaru is my best friend. Can't you see she's hurt by this?"

"Even more so for you not to butt in. Imai…"

Hotaru rolled her eyes as the couple began bickering, returning to her stares at Ruka and his fan girls. What an idiot. Who knew that her agreement to a simple night out would blow this so out of proportion? And Ruka…Hotaru shook her head quickly. No she wouldn't think about him. Her eyes glazed over Natsume and Mikan to make sure they weren't doing anything drastic…well. She watched as little flames popped up around the two only to instantly disappear.

Rubbing her brow, Hotaru stood up. She really didn't want to deal with their drama right now and left quietly. Sumire noticed and turned to inform the couple who were still bickering loudly with Adina in the middle holding her hands palms out to keep both of them from trading blows. "Oi lovebirds. Hotaru left."

Mikan's angry expression immediately changed to one of a concerned friend as she called out, "Wait Hotaru?" but she already left the building. Huffing, Mikan crossed her arms then blinked and sniffed the air. "Do you smell something burning?"

Sumire pointed to Mikan's skirt. Mikan looked down only to see that Natsume burned a hole in her skirt.

"Nice view cherries," Natsume smirked, pleased with his handiwork.

Wait for it…wait for it… "NATSUME YOU PERVERT!"

* * *

><p>"Mou," moaned Mikan from her spot on the bed. She was currently lying on her back after changing her skirt on their bed with Natsume sitting on the edge of the bed next to her. She glanced at the boy next to her, remembering how he asked her to share a room with him instead of "giving the maid more to clean" by staying at her room.<p>

Mikan frowned. Well asked as in transferring all her stuff to his room when she was out with Hotaru. Anyways, Mikan flipped to her side, she was still pissed that her burned her skirt.

An arm wrapped itself around her waist, Natsume's head resting on her crook of her neck. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"What is this?" Mikan chucked, "Is the great Hyuuga Natsume apologizing?"

"Shut up." Natsume growled and bit down on her neck. Positioning himself so he was on top of her, he licked her lips as they began making out again.

Knock. Knock. Natsume growled in annoyance at being interrupted _again_. He yanked the door open, preparing to roast whoever was on the other side of it when he came face to face with Persona. Natsume narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?"

"Why hello neko-chan." Persona smirked as Natsume growled at him, curling his fists. "I'm just here to tell you we have a meeting in the Northern Forest later."

"Hn."

Persona lifted an eyebrow as the door was slammed in his face. "Touchy touchy," he smiled to himself as he walked out of the dorms, pondering his latest brilliant idea. He applauded himself for telling the Senator that Mikan and Natsume had been on a mission to kill him, thereby heavily injuring them so Adina would be convinced to join the D.A. Yes, Persona smirked, it was a good idea. And best of all, no one suspected a thing.

_Northern Forest_

The D.A. class was scattered around the clearing when Mikan and Natsume finally showed up. Mikan was currently occupied with thoughts of her best friend while Natsume looked bored as usual. Coming to a halt, Mikan lifted her head up and her eyes widened.

"What the hell is she doing here?" She pointed at Adina who was standing next to Persona who replied as if the answer were completely obvious.

"She'll be joining you of course."

Mikan glared, "Then our deal is over."

"Ah, Mikan-chan I don't think so. I believe you said that you and Natsume would continue to complete missions so long as I don't recruit anymore students but you never said anything against someone volunteering for missions."

"What? There's no way she…"

"Adina-chan did I force you in any way to join us," Persona interrupted.

Adina stood firm. "No, I wanted to do this myself."

Persona nodded towards Mikan. "See? Alright, Hayato and Nobara. You two have a mission tonight. The details are in this folder. Go now. Natsume…" Persona grimaced, "Because you won the Honor Student Award, it seems the Academy is letting you visit your family for a week. You leave tomorrow morning."

Natsume nodded but looked worriedly at Mikan. He didn't want to be separated from her but since as Mikan repeatedly told him he had a family to go home to so he should aim for the award. He squeezed her hand.

Mikan smiled up at her boyfriend, "I'll be fine. Enjoy your time with your family."

"Ahem," Their teacher coughed, "Mikan and Adina you two have a mission tonight. It's a simple one since this is Adina's first time. I need you to retrieve an Alice stone from this section of the AAO."

* * *

><p>The two had finished obtaining the Alice stone without difficulty and were currently hopping down the hallway of the building, avoiding the lasers. Adina jumped to her left foot but tripped, triggering an alarm which started blaring wildly.<p>

Mikan swore as she whipped out their map, locating the nearest exit which happened to be an air vent. Kicking it open, she pulled Adina over. "You escape first. I'll hold them off. Once you get out, hide and don't move until I find you."

Adina nodded and swiftly crawled into the air vent. After a couple minutes she managed to make it outside the building. Pulling out the GPS Persona gave her, she located Mikan's position. She was close but Adina stayed put.

"AAAAHH!" Groans reached her ears as she lay crouched in the bushes. Her hands twitched at the thought of Mikan being hurt crossed her mind. She didn't want to just sit there doing nothing so she stood up and ran towards Mikan.

Running around the corner of the building, Adina came to a halt. Bodies littered the ground; some in awkward angles as if carelessly thrown around, blood everywhere. And in the middle of the pile of human bodies stood Mikan with red smeared across her face and dripping down her body, a bloody knife in her hands, not a scratch on her body.

Mikan heard a muffled sound and quickly whipped around towards a man she thought she missed but she saw… "Adina…?"

Adina was petrified at the sight of Mikan. She slowly backed away, her legs shaking. Mikan walked towards her, stretching her hand out. Just as she was about to touch Adina's face, the girl screamed, "DON'T TOUCH ME!" Mikan paused "GET AWAY, PLEASE…NO…" and pulled her hand back.

Realizing what she just did, Adina opened her eyes and looked up at Mikan but Mikan just walked past her.

* * *

><p>Adina was tossing around her bed, obviously plagued with dreams…<p>

_ She was part of a normal family. Mommy and Daddy both loved her and she loved them. Her parents always wanted the best for her and she also wanted to make her parents happy. She was an average student but the first time she got an A on a test, her parents were ecstatic. She never saw her parents that way so she began trying harder._

_ As she got better and better it got harder for her to see their smiles and congratulations. When she entered high school her parents became extremely controlling and wanted her to be "perfect." Adina was fed up with it and began hanging out with the wrong crowd. That was when she started dating her ex-boyfriend._

_ "Adina Stark, you must break up with your boyfriend!"_

_ "But dad! He's not like that; he's a really nice guy."_

_ "That doesn't matter! You're grounded for a month and you are forbidden from seeing that boy again!"_

_ "No! I HATE YOU!" Adina slammed her door and threw herself on her bed sobbing. Bzzt! She eagerly picked up her phone. It was a text from her boyfriend telling her to meet up with him. She texted him back saying she was grounded and her parents told her to never see him again. A couple minutes later she received another text. _Screw your parents sneak out tonight I'll take you somewhere special.

_ Ten minutes later she was in her boyfriend's car as they sped away from her house. He stopped in front of a club. Adina protested that she didn't want to go in but he sweet talks her into going in anyway._

_ They were dancing in the club when her boyfriend handed her a drink. She smiled and took a sip but immediately felt woozy. Her boyfriend smiled down at her and picked her up, carrying her to a room upstairs. Her vision was blurred but was that a bed?_

_ She screamed as he threw her on the bed and ripped her shirt off. "No! Stop!" But her boyfriend paid her no heed as he stripped her of the rest of her clothes. Adina squirmed and kneed her boyfriend, rolling off the bed. She quickly picked up her clothes and donned them, sprinting out of the room without sparing a glance at her boyfriend, well now ex-boyfriend. _

_ Racing out of the club she came to halt as she saw her dad's car screech to a stop in front of her. "GET IN!" She obeyed. As she shut the door, her dad stepped on the gas pedal. "WHAT THE BLAZES WERE YOU THINKING? NO YOU WEREN'T THINKING! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG YOUR MOM AND I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU? HUH? DO YOU?"_

_ Adina ignored him and cried because of what her boyfriend tried to do to her. "SHUT UP DAD!"_

_ "DON'T TELL ME TO SHUT UP YOUNG LADY!"_

_ "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I JUST WENT THROUGHT SO STOP YELLING!"_

_ "ME STOP YELLING? WHAT DO YOU MEAN ME STOP YELLING? YOU'RE THE ONE-"_

_ Something small was crawling across the road, a cat? But Adina noticed too late. "DAD WATCH OUT!" SCREECH. SLAM! "AAAAH!"_

_ She was told later that she blacked out once she woke up from the hospital, an IV taped to her wrist. A doctor walked in and noticing she was awake commented, "You're very lucky to survive young lady." Her father had saved her. She asked what happened to her dad but a bawling in the hallway stopped the doctor as the door burst open._

_ Her mom ran in shrieking at the top of her lungs. "IT'S YOUR FAULT. WHY? WHY? THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! IF IT WEREN'T YOU YOUR DAD WOULD HAVE SURVIVED. WHY? WHY DID YOU DO IT? WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST LISTEN?"_

_ Adina closed her eyes. So she killed her dad. It's all your fault…it's all your fault…_

_ It's all your fault…_

_ It's all your fault…_

Adina's eyes flew open. She was gasping hard, clutching her now drenched sheets. Sitting up, she looked at her hands, the ones that killed her dad, hugging herself. Adina cried.

_Morning – Front Gate_

The gates stood open as two figures were standing next to a limo. The taller one caressed the other's face.

"Have a safe trip Natsume." Mikan leaned into his caress.

"Try to stay out of trouble Polka dots."

The driver leaned out the window, "We have to leave now."

Natsume glared at him, "In a minute." He looked back at Mikan, "Bye Mikan."

"See you." They kissed gently before Natsume got into the limo. Waving goodbye, Mikan stood in the same spot until she couldn't see him anymore.

* * *

><p>Since Natsume was gone and her best friend was occupied with her own problems, Mikan was staring out the window, lonely. Upon arriving to class, Adina refused to make eye contact with Mikan. She was scared to approach her. Hotaru and Ruka were ignoring each other at opposite ends of the classroom while Sumire stood in the front of the classroom assessing the situation with Koko next to her.<p>

"Something's off." Sumire tapped her chin. Beside her Koko rolled his eyes.

"You think?" Smack!

Koko now had a red handprint on his left cheek. "Well Mikan's moping after Natsume. Adina looks like she saw Frankenstein's bride. Hotaru and Ruka are ignoring each other…Let me see. YEA SOMETHING'S WRONG!"

"Isn't it normal for Mikan to miss Natsume?"

Sumire considered that. "True ok, cross that out. Cross Hotaru and Ruka out too. I don't even want to touch their problem with a meter stick. Now that leaves Adina. Koko, make yourself useful. What's bothering her?"

At that Koko focused on Adina. "Well…oh…shit. Wow, I'd be bothered too if that happened."

"What?"

"Gosh that's rough."

A little pissed off, Sumire asked, "Again what?"

"Wonder if she's -"

More than a little pissed off, Sumire hit Koko across the head, "WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?"

"Well…"

At the moment, Narumi decided to grace the class with his presence. "Ok class. Settle down now." Sumire glared at Koko.

Clapping his hands, Narumi announced, "So we're having a new student join us today." Immediately all conversation stopped as everyone waited for Narumi to continue. Mikan didn't shift from her position. Hotaru and Ruka were looking in opposite directions while Adina was studying her lap and Sumire glared at Koko who was smiling nervously like he knew who it is.

"You can come in now." A boy with dark hair and black eyes walked in with a confident gait to stand in front of the class. Adina's head immediately shot up as she noticed the familiar hairstyle.

Anna who was sitting next to her noticed her freezing up, "Hey are you ok?" Adina nodded her head numbly but Anna wasn't convinced. "Are you sure? What's wrong?"

At that moment the new student introduced himself. "Hi, I'm Blake."

"It's him." Anna looked confused not hearing her comment.

Adina took a breath and repeated, "It's him. Blake Baines, my ex-boyfriend."


End file.
